The journey of the Young Lives Ethiopia Round 7 survey has been marked by careful planning, dedicated teamwork, and resilience to overcome unexpected challenges. In a recent video, our Ethiopia Project Coordinator, Chanie Ejigu, shared his insights into the build-up to this significant seventh survey round, offering details on the methodology used and the experiences gathered along the way.

Round 7 Successes

The Round 7 survey was a success despite the country's ongoing security challenges. As participants grow older, many have moved on to university or employment, which initially raised concerns about their willingness to continue participating in the study. However, their commitment was overwhelmingly positive, which contributed to the completion of 2,231 interviews—1,535 from the Younger Cohort (YC) and 696 from the Older Cohort (OC)—representing 82.54% of the target sample for Round 7 (83.79% for the YC and 79.91% for the OC), and 74.37% of the original Round 1 sample. This achievement of a comparatively very low attrition rate is a testament to the incredible efforts and team spirit of both the Ethiopian Young Lives team and the Oxford team, whose support was invaluable throughout the process. A particularly notable example of teamwork was the decision to pivot from face-to-face interviews to phone surveys in two sites in Amhara due to security concerns.

Key Challenges

While the Round 7 survey was completed successfully, it was not without challenges:

• Conflict: Ongoing conflict in the Amhara region and other parts of the country hindered the ability to conduct face-to-face interviews in some areas. As a result, phone surveys were conducted in two Amhara sites, and some participants who had migrated to conflict zones were unreachable.
• High Levels of Migration: As participants grow older, many migrate to other areas or abroad in search of jobs, contributing to higher attrition rates. This was particularly significant from one site in the Southern Region where a number of respondents migrated to South Africa and two sites in Tigray where young men and women migrated to Saudi Arabia.
• Participant Deaths: Sadly, 31 participants passed away during Round 7, with 19 (61.3%) from Tigray and 4 (13%) from Amhara, mostly due to conflict-related causes.

Unexpected Outcomes

One of the most surprising achievements during the Round 7 survey was the success of the collection of hair sample to measure cortisol levels as an indicator of stress, carried out for the first time. Despite cultural and religious sensitivities in Ethiopia, we were able to collect samples from around 49% of the target population, exceeding our initial expectations.

The survey findings are currently being analysed and results will be made available through the Young Lives international and Ethiopia websites early in 2025.