Project Background and justification
The process of transition to adulthood of youth has always been an area of interest for policy makers and academia. Youth are facing various opportunities and challenges through this process of transition. This paradoxical situation, makes it necessary to gain scientific understanding about youth’s needs and problems in different fields including marriage and sexual behavior. This is especially important for Afghanistan which has a young population and is heading towards societal and cultural reforms.
Transition to adulthood of youth has numerous implications on youth identity and their societal roles in areas of education, carrier, sexual behavior and marriage. From all different implications, marriage and sexual behavior are two important areas which are related to the cultural and societal structure of the country. Therefore, given the fact that Afghan society has experienced some societal and political changes during the two past decades and considering the new developments in communication channels and intraregional connectivity, it seems obvious that sexual attitudes and behaviors of Afghan youth has changed. The question is what are the main factors effecting youth in their transition to adulthood? How to draw a picture out of sexual attitudes and behavior of youth in Afghanistan?
Project Goal and Objectives
1- Analyzing and examining the main patterns of sexual attitudes and behaviors of Afghan youth.
2- Analyzing and examining the main factors behind Afghan youth’s transition to adulthood.
Objectives of the project
1- Examining the existing problems of transition to adulthood of Afghan youth.
2- Helping with decision making about the transition to adulthood of Afghan youth.
3- Examining the possible solutions for youth problems in Afghanistan.
4- Publishing and distributing a scientific research about the transition to adulthood of Afghan youth.
Project Outcome and results
In light of the fact that youth are the main force of change and developments in Afghanistan and the fact that social, economic and political situation in the country has been changed, this project has the following expected outcomes.
1- Recognizing the challenges and problems related to transition to adulthood of youth.
2- Presenting practical solutions for problems related to transition to adulthood of youth.
Beneficiaries and Stakeholders
Beneficiaries of this project can be categorized in two parts:
1- Specific beneficiaries: the results and findings of this survey can be used by policy makers in Afghan government and its international partners. Taking the fact that the social and political situations in Afghanistan are changing and the fact that Afghan youth are susceptible to new
developments, it is necessary to initiate youth friendly policies that are based on scientific recommendations. Therefore, the leadership of Afghanistan is the specific beneficiary of this project.
2- General beneficiaries: youth population along all citizens of the country are among the general beneficiaries of this project.
This research project will be carried out through a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods. The sample population for the quantitative part of the study is youth population (from both sexes between 15 to 35 years old) in 5 big cities (including Kabul, Balkh, Nangarhar, Herat, and Qandahar) and 10 nearby villages; a total of 1200 individuals will be surveyed. In qualitative part of the study 40 in-depth interviews will be conducted.