Pathways to health and learning inclusion among young women in South Western Nigeria

在尼日利亚，估计有19%的15-19岁女性已经开始生育，另有4%的女性怀了第一个孩子（国家人口委员会，2018年）。许多政策和学术研究将早孕和孕产描述为一种现象，会给母亲和儿童带来不良的健康、经济和社会挑战（Adegbola & Sanusi 2019）。这加强了对年轻母亲的消极态度。然而，这些影响仍未得到充分研究。我的博士研究结果表明，歧视性的社区、教育和卫生做法如何加剧了年轻母亲的边缘化、健康状况不佳和社会经济后果。目前，人们对耻辱和歧视对健康和福祉的影响认识不足。在尼日利亚，也没有官方/正式的干预措施来支持怀孕女孩继续上学，并确保年轻母亲有效地重新融入正规教育。我打算利用这个奖学金为今后在这个领域的工作打下基础。我的总体目标是培养基本技能，使我能够进行研究，制定政策，并为改善低收入和中等收入国家（LMICs）年轻女性的福祉提出最佳实践建议。我的第一个目标是发表两篇期刊文章，以促进对尼日利亚和撒哈拉以南非洲年轻母亲遭受耻辱和歧视经历的有限了解。为了最大限度地扩大影响力，我计划在“对话非洲”上发表这些文章的博客文章，并在研讨会上发表。我博士学位的下一步重点是使用共同创造方法来刺激参与，并为减少学习和医疗排斥提供证据。在开放大学WELS学院，研究人员在使用数字共同创造方法改善中低收入国家的健康和学习成果方面拥有专业知识。通过参加正式和非正式的培训/研讨会，我计划在这些领域发展方法技能，并了解如何有效地举办研讨会。第三，为了建立我的网络和协作技能，我计划与尼日利亚的主要利益攸关方（例如卫生和教育从业人员、政策制定者、非政府组织）举行一次宣传会议，以传播调查结果，并提高人们对教育和医疗保健耻辱和歧视对年轻妇女福祉的影响的认识。本次会议还将讨论在非洲使用定性和创造性方法生成高质量数据的额外好处。之后，我将与教育和相关部门的主要利益攸关方（如从业人员、政策制定者和非政府组织）举办为期两天的数据收集研讨会，共同创造关于年轻女性重返学校和留校的知识。研讨会将探讨学习排斥的原因、挑战和改善教育包容性的机会。通过分析研讨会的讨论，我将把与会者的见解添加到一份简报中，介绍有助于学校重新整合的非正式现有做法，并探索提高学校留存率的潜在途径。这份简报可以支持教育政策制定者和从业者致力于改善教育包容性。2030年可持续发展目标议程是不让任何一个人掉队（Buzeti et al. 2020）。投资于女性教育，特别是在边缘化人群（如怀孕少女和年轻母亲）中的女性教育，对于促进性别平等和改善健康和福祉成果至关重要（同上）。在我的奖学金结束时，我计划提交一笔赠款，以记录最佳做法，并分析在撒哈拉以南非洲地区提高学校留校率的成功案例研究，以确定适用于尼日利亚背景的可转移要素。为了更多地了解发展资助，我计划跟随我的导师和开放大学全球发展研究中心（CSGD）的活动。

In Nigeria, an estimated 19% of women aged 15-19 years have begun childbearing while an additional 4% are pregnant with their first child (National Population Commission, 2018). Numerous policy and academic studies depict early pregnancy and motherhood as a phenomenon that creates poor health, economic and social challenges for both mother and child (Adegbola & Sanusi 2019). This has reinforced negative attitudes towards young mothers. However, the effects of these remain understudied. My PhD findings showed how discriminatory community, educational and health practices reinforced marginalisation, poor health, and socio-economic outcomes among young mothers. Currently, there is poor awareness of the health and wellbeing impacts of stigma and discrimination. There are also no official/formal interventions to support school retention of pregnant girls and ensure the effective re-integration of young mothers into formal education in Nigeria. I plan to use this fellowship to set a foundation for future work in this area.My overall aim for this fellowship is to develop foundational skills which will enable me to undertake research, formulate policies, and suggest best practices for improving the wellbeing of young women in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). My first objective focuses on publishing two journal articles to contribute to limited knowledge on young mothers' experiences of stigma and discrimination in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa. To maximise reach, I plan to publish blogposts of these articles at 'The Conversation Africa' and present at seminars.A focus on the next steps from my PhD aims at using co-creation methods to stimulate engagement and contribute to evidence on reducing learning and healthcare exclusions. Within the Faculty of WELS at The Open University, researchers have expertise in using digital co-creation methods to improve health and learning outcomes in LMICs. By attending formal and informal training/workshops within WELS, I plan to develop methodological skills in these areas and understand how to conduct workshops effectively. Thirdly, to build my networking and collaboration skills, I plan to conduct a dissemination session with key stakeholders (e.g., health and educational practitioners, policymakers, NGOs) in Nigeria to disseminate findings and raise awareness on the implications of educational and healthcare stigma and discrimination on young women's wellbeing. This session will also discuss the added benefits of using qualitative and creative methodologies to generate quality data in Africa. Afterwards, I will conduct a two-day data-gathering workshop with key stakeholders (e.g., practitioners, policymakers, and NGOs) in education and related sectors to co-create knowledge on school re-entry and retention for young women. The workshop will explore causes of learning exclusions, challenges, and opportunities for improving educational inclusion. By analysing the workshop's discussions, I will add participants' insights to a briefing on non-formal existing practices that aid school re-integration and explore potential pathways for improving school retention. This brief can support educational policymakers and practitioners working to improve educational inclusion. The 2030 agenda for the Sustainable Development Goal is to leave no one behind (Buzeti et al. 2020). Investing in female education, particularly among marginalised populations (such as pregnant adolescents and young mothers) is crucial to promoting gender equality and improving health and wellbeing outcomes (Ibid). At the end of my fellowship, I plan to submit a grant to document best practices and analyse successful case studies that have improved school retention in sub-Saharan Africa, to identify transferrable elements for a Nigerian context. To learn more about developing grants, I plan to shadow my mentor and activities within the Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD) at The Open University.