Use of cash and voucher assistance for the wellbeing of adolescent boys and girls in crisis

Adolescents – young people between the ages of 10 and 19 – have specific needs that are distinct from those of younger children and adults. This transitional and developmental period is increasingly seen as an “age of opportunity”  globally and in humanitarian settings, because of the significant individual and intergenerational implications of adolescent development.
During crises, the institutions, systems and community cohesion that normally support adolescent development break down. As a result, adolescents’ development into adulthood is accelerated, and they are forced to take on greater risks and responsibilities. Humanitarian response often fails to take the necessary steps to mitigate and counteract the disadvantages that adolescent girls and boys in crisis face – including access to education and livelihoods opportunities – and the challenges faced by, in particular, adolescent girls and adolescents with
disabilities. Adolescent girls and boys face age-specific risks of violence that are often not adequately addressed compared with protection risks faced by women and younger children.