26 | Acquisition International, Issue 12 2023 oung Lives India is part of the international Young Lives study of childhood poverty. Funded by the UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and has been following the lives of 3000 children in the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states of Southern India. One of the major reasons for conducting the research in India is that it is currently on track to become the largest and youngest workforce the world has ever seen. Besides this Young Lives India has been conducting research and evaluations as well as developing construct validated tools and materials for capacity building of government functionaries for UNICEF India, British Asia Trust, UK, CIFF, UNICEF Innocenti Office of Research, Italy etc. Toung Lives India’s mandate is to produce evidence that will impact policies and programmes. This makes it critical to instigate improved levels of skills and education in the country, and to strive to meet the aspirations of its young people. Education is improving, with teacher numbers on a steady incline. Unfortunately, retention during adolescence still remains a challenge with only a third of young people still remaining in education by the time they complete secondary school. All evidence points to the fact that health has improved but stunting still remain alarmingly high. Poverty is a complex and multi-dimensional, and so it is gratifying to see that Young Lives India takes a broad-based approach using mixed methods research to understand the drivers of childhood poverty. On the one hand, it is fully commended for its initiatives taken to inform policies in order to try and eliminate poverty. Young Lives extensive research and determined study findings paint a fuller picture. This shows that whilst monetary poverty may have decreased, inequalities such as gender inequity still remain, very much entrenched in social cultural norms. The Young Lives longitudinal study today operates under the project title Young Lives at Work (YLAW), which was launched with new funding from the FCDO in 2019. It aims to examine exactly how the pursuit of education and skills helps to form opportunities for young people as they take steps towards the labour market. The current programme covers the collection of quantitative data, and conducts research into employment, education, and skills of the young people involved in the study as they mature into young adults. The themes covered by the project are divided into six general categories. These are education and skills, employment, family life, health and wellbeing, gender and intersecting inequalities, and new vulnerabilities. We will take a closer look at these themes imminently, but first a word about the company’s trailblazing research as it stands today. Combined, the global Young Lives teams have already published over 900 papers with regards to varied aspects of childhood and youth poverty. It’s already been running for over 20 years, with data collected, publicly archived, and available to download from the UK Data Archive. With research that extends to some 12,000 children across 4 different countries the project has been of huge benefit to future studies of a similar kind. Having now been running for more than 20 years, Young Lives is able to track the skills and development of the educational journeys of all its study participants from infancy to early adulthood. This allows the evaluation of data indicating the causes and consequences of inequality in education, and how this goes on to effect work and future family possibilities. The data reveals evidence that points to the strong emergence of gender gaps around the age of 12, and this is something that tends to continue onwards into early adulthood. Sometimes the poor developmental effects are further exacerbated by a cross over of factors such as gender, impoverishment, rural location, and minority status. Young Lives is a ground breaking long-term study of poverty and inequality in India, Ethiopia, Peru, and Vietnam. It has been following the lives of 12,000 children for the previous two decades, as they pass through adolescence and into young adulthood. The study has uncovered insights that are unparalleled regarding the dynamics of poverty and inequality. Its aim is to help inform policy, and ultimately improve the life outcomes for disadvantaged children and young people. Y Best Youth-Related Research Study 2023 “ Though this instance was arguably one of Anthony Siu & Co.’s most defining cases, there is another that we would love to touch on. This being its involvement in a dispute between Barco Investments Limited and Wong Han and Others. Having taken place just this year, this case was one that would demonstrate the sheer extent of the firm’s international and cross-border capabilities. ”
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