GB-SC-SC015263-2 ... Literature has it that participation of children and young people in research and interventions is low. Nevertheless, success of interventions relies on participation of the ones whom the intervention is targeting from planning to implementation. It is important then to ensure young people participate in interventions. Since participation promotion in children is quite a new concept, compared to community participation; activities and methods of promoting participation are not obvious and not always well reported by intervention implementers who reports presence of participation in their interventions. Currently, I am undertaking a PhD studentship through the NIHR Global Research Group on improving adolescent health & well-being in Malawi. I am working within work strand 4 which is exploring the role of Water Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) on adolescent health and well-being. We are to co-design a number of WASH interventions and pilot them with the aim of recommending long-term, effective strategies to the Government. My role requires me to support the development of adolescent targeted interventions, implementation and evaluation. My PhD concept is also leaning towards promoting adolescent participation in WASH interventions. I don’t have experience in promoting participation of children and young people in research and projects. Hence the main aim of this placement is to gain knowledge and skills in that area. The placement will allow me to obtain the knowledge and practical experience in co-designing of interventions with beneficiaries and stakeholders. I will also know new people, build new networks and get some career mentorship. These will be achieved through being engaged in various projects with engagement and involvement concepts targeting children and young people. I will also attend formal training at University of Exeter through their offered short courses in line with my capacity gaps. 6879 GB-SC-SC015263-1 ... The United Nations estimate that there are more young people (10-24 year olds) alive today than at any other time in human history, the majority of which live in low and middle income countries. Within these settings, adolescence is affected by the multiple health and wellbeing burdens that are exacerbated by poverty including HIV and other infectious diseases, undernutrition, and gender norms that underpin poor sexual and reproductive health, injury and violence, and non- communicable diseases. Despite this, adolescents are often the most neglected group in health care service provision, particularly those in early adolescence (10–14 years), a time considered critical in shaping their future lives. In Malawi, the setting for this research, despite social mobilization to prohibit child marriage, engagement of traditional leaders in moving away from unhealthy cultural traditions, and expansion of youth-friendly health services, there has been limited progress towards meeting the needs of adolescents. For example, national rates for completion of the full eight years of primary school remain low (44% male; 37% female). Adverse gender norms weigh heavily on girls and young women such that age-specific fertility for adolescents remains high, and there is an unmet need for family planning services. Programming intended to extend health services to adolescents remains highly problematic, with essentially no universal health coverage for the youngest age groups, highly adverse social norms that preclude the use of contraception before the first birth and many service-side barriers. Additionally, the current COVID-19 pandemic is magnifying the challenges for communities and for service provision in health and education sectors and has impoverished a whole generation of adolescents and limited their life chances. With this backdrop in mind, this interdisciplinary group will focus on the health and wellbeing of adolescents in Malawi. We will take an all-round approach to understanding young people’s lives in both urban and rural settings through an extensive formative phase. We will undertake ‘co-creation’, testing and evaluation of promising approaches to some of the identified challenges in collaboration with adolescents, influencers, parents, and others active in development work. With a focus on (1) gender, sexual and reproductive health rights, (2) aspirations and wellbeing including mental health, and (3) water, sanitation and hygiene, work in these areas will be supported by an examination of policy and economic frameworks that are needed to support long term change. We anticipate that our holistic approach to examining the lives of adolescents can bring immediate benefits, as well as benefits throughout their future adult lives and for the next generation of children. In order to achieve these aims we need to gain a clear understanding of the opportunities and barriers to adolescent health and wellbeing in low-income settings such as Malawi, while recognising and examining important gendered, regional and rural-urban differences. A key outcome will be to ensure more effective peer, parental and multisectoral support, and availability of new approaches to bring forward and test new ways to mitigate adverse conditions and foster elements that can provide material and social protection, and resilience for adolescents, enabling young people to maximise their life chances. Blantyre: Urban Mchinji: Rural 2999854 2999854