Paper short abstract:

Marginalised youth in Ethiopia and Nepal have worked with national researchers to understand uncertainty in their complex lives. Case studies from rural and urban conflict affected and environmentally fragile sites illuminate how structural inequalities and uncertainty affect youth strategies.

Paper long abstract:

Youth Uncertainty (YOUR) World Research uses creative visual, moving and narrative methods to understand how uncertainty is experienced in the complex everyday lives of marginalised young women and men, and young people who are genderfluid (aged 15-24 years). National teams are analysing how youth experiences of uncertainty are shaped by structural inequalities and suggest national definitions of marginalisation need to take into account youth experiences of exclusion and vulnerability. Case studies illuminate how youth see uncertainty in their transitions as they grow up; in the places and spaces they inhabit; in their peer and intergenerational relationships, their feelings of autonomy and belonging; and in their decisions to migrate for employment and internationally to seek new futures. In rural conflict affected, drought prone, and earthquake affected sites, youth can see successful migrants as their role models. In the face of high unemployment and school drop-out, coupled with family expectations for young men to provide for their families and the threat of early marriage and hard work for extended families for young women, many of the most marginalised migrate to cities to try their luck in the informal sector. In street situations, some feel they face a certainty of persistent poverty and would prefer to embrace uncertainty to take precarious journeys to find hope of a more positive future. Returnee migrants also face challenges if not successful of not being accepted back into families and communities and find new peer relationships of understanding and support.