COVID-19 exposed the global digital divide among adolescents in Guinea-Bissau

“I have roots in both Iceland and the Gambia, and from an early age I have seen how social status, economic conditions and family circumstances can have a significant impact on the lives of children and adolescents and the opportunities available to them. I have also worked extensively with children and young people in Iceland over the years, and it’s always been important to me to get a better understanding of the conditions that create unequal opportunities and how young people experience inequality.” So says Fatou N´dure Baboudóttir, who completed her PhD in global studies at the University of Iceland this spring.

Her doctoral research examined manifestations of inequality among adolescents in Guinea-Bissau. The study, which is part of an extensive UI research project on young people in Guinea-Bissau, revealed deep-rooted and entrenched inequality which was exposed still further during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research team has now produced an educational video presenting their research in Guinea-Bissau.

Fatou became involved with the youth research in Guinea-Bissau during her master’s studies at UI. Her master’s project looked at disability rights organisations in the Gambia under the supervision of Jónína Einarsdóttir, professor emerita of anthropology. Together with Geir Gunnlaugsson, professor emeritus in global health, Jónína has led the Guinea-Bissau research since 2009. Initially, Jónína and Geir were tasked with collecting data for UNICEF Guinea-Bissau on young boys involved in street begging alongside their Quranic schooling, at that time mostly in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. There they met Hamadou Boiro, who later joined the research group as an anthropologist and defended his doctoral dissertation at UI in autumn 2025.

“After I completed my master’s degree, I knew I wanted to continue working as a researcher. When I was invited to take part in the research in Guinea-Bissau, I felt it was a unique opportunity to contribute to important knowledge creation. Children and young people (aged 10-24) make up around a third of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, and my research responds to the need to know more about their everyday lives, experiences and visions for the future,” says Fatou. “What particularly drew me to this research topic was the desire to understand how inequality manifests in the everyday lives of adolescents, not only in statistics or policy-making, but also in their lived experiences and the ways they find to create a future for themselves, often in very challenging conditions.”

Surveyed over 2,000 young people in Bissau

The research team came up with the idea of using the Planet Youth questionnaire to survey young people in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau. The work was carried out in collaboration with the Jean Piaget University in Bissau and the research institute INEP (Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisa). This approach allowed them to compare the circumstances of adolescents in Guinea-Bissau with their peers in Iceland and other European countries.

“Zeca Jandi, director of INEP, played a key role in the study, facilitating access and participating in data collection. Aladjé Baldé, Rector of Jean Piaget University, and William Gomes Ferreira, Vice-Rector at the same university, also provided invaluable support,” says Fatou. Besides Geir, the members of her doctoral committee were Inga Dóra Sigfúsdóttir, professor of sociology at Reykjavík University, and Margarida Gaspar de Matos, professor of global health at the Catholic University of Portugal.

Fatou’s research was wide-ranging, including interviews with young people in Bissau as well as the questionnaires. “The quantitative part of the study was based on the Planet Youth questionnaire, which was administered to 2,039 teenagers aged 14-19 at 12 state schools and four private schools in the capital. The aim of the research was to analyse various influencing factors, including access to education and digital media,” explains Fatou.

The results of the questionnaire formed the basis for further research, which included interviews, focus groups and a participatory photovoice project with adolescents from diverse social and economic backgrounds. “Our goal was to gain a deeper understanding of their everyday lives, including their experiences of inequality. Without their trust and willingness to share their experiences, the research would not have been possible. The young people were not just the subjects of the research – they were active participants,” stresses Fatou.

Learned a new language for the study

Various challenges arose, including communication issues and unforeseen external circumstances. “The biggest and also most unexpected was the COVID-19 pandemic, which struck shortly after I returned home after nearly five months of fieldwork in Guinea-Bissau in February 2020. Originally we had planned to continue data collection the same year, but travel restrictions made that impossible and the research had to be reorganised to some extent,” says Fatou, who also decided to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people’s lives.

Besides her hard work collecting data for the study, Fatou also learned a whole new language during her PhD. “Guinea-Bissau is a former Portuguese colony and Portuguese is the official language. Although I speak Spanish, the language was a significant challenge since I had to collect data in Kriol, which is the language everyone speaks and which I had to learn. I also had help from interpreters to ensure the greatest possible accuracy. The translation process from Kriol into Portuguese and then into English was both time-consuming and required great precision to ensure that the meaning of the data was not lost,” she explains.

Political and economic instability in Guinea-Bissau also affected the fieldwork. “Building trust with teenagers in that kind of situation and creating a space where they felt safe to share their personal experiences required time, patience and sensitivity to cultural and social power dynamics,” says Fatou, who was also acutely aware of her status as a foreign researcher. “Although my background and appearance in some cases made it easier to connect with participants, I was also very aware of the power imbalance inherent in being an adult researcher affiliated with an international university.”

Access to the digital world is limited for certain groups

“Access to education is unequal, since parental education levels and family income determine whether children attend private or state schools. Private schools offer stability while under-resourced state schools suffer from frequent strikes and inconsistent teacher attendance. This inequality is also reflected in a digital divide, with access to computers and the internet limited, especially for girls and state school pupils,” Fatou explains.

The COVID-19 pandemic also exposed a global digital divide between the adolescents in Bissau and their peers in the West. “Both private and state schools in Bissau were closed during the pandemic, and they did not offer online learning or other support. Hunger and food insecurity affected some of the pupils during this time, highlighting localised economic inequality. In the photovoice project, participants demonstrated a deep understanding of underlying inequalities,” says Fatou, adding: “Despite the barriers in their way, the teenagers showed great resilience, solidarity and a strong vision for the future, as well as offering practical solutions to the challenges they face.”

Important for future policy development in Guinea-Bissau that the voices of young people are heard

This study is one of the first large-scale studies looking at the manifestations of inequality in the lives of young people in Guinea-Bissau. “It adds knowledge which is sorely lacking about the lives of young people in low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and also relates to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in the areas of education, gender equality, health and digital development,” says Fatou.

Her findings also highlight that young people in Bissau face systemic and complex patterns of inequality that manifest in many different ways in their daily lives. “By centring the perspectives of young people, the study demonstrates the importance of a rights-focused approach that guarantees them a formal role in policy development and decision making. It also highlights the importance of recognising young people as active agents for sustainable development and a fairer future for the next generations in Guinea-Bissau and potentially beyond,” says Fatou, pointing out that 60% of the population is under 25, which is common in sub-Saharan countries.

Educational video shows the circumstances of young people in Guinea-Bissau

Together with her husband Ragnar Ingi Magnússon, and Geir and Jónína, Fatou has produced an educational video about UI’s youth research in Guinea-Bissau. This project was supported by UI funding earmarked for science communication. “The video presents three doctoral projects: Boiro’s research on the boys from the Quran schools, my research on the manifestations of inequality in the lives of adolescents in Bissau, and Jon Edmund Bollom’s research on university students in Bissau,” says Fatou.

The findings of these studies have been widely shared, both in Iceland and internationally, and with government representatives, headteachers and institutions in Guinea-Bissau.

“The video is designed for a broad audience. In Iceland, it is first and foremost intended for the public, students and professionals with an interest in global issues and challenges related to the wellbeing of children and young people. The video is also intended for stakeholders, policy makers and international institutions working in a range of areas in sub-Saharan Africa. It aims to make academic research accessible to a wider audience, raise awareness of the circumstances of young people in Guinea-Bissau, and support policy development based on the genuine experiences of young people.” says Fatou.

Plans to keep researching the wellbeing of children and adolescents

Fatou wants to continue working on research and other projects related to the wellbeing of children and adolescents. “I’m also interested in doing further work and research in sub-Saharan Africa. Alongside my PhD, I have also been working on research in the field of disability studies and the rights of other marginalised groups. I’m equally passionate about those topics, particularly in an international context,” she says.

She is deeply committed to research that centres the perspectives of children, adolescents and marginalised groups, in line with the UN SDGs, and promotes a better understanding of their conditions and rights.

She expresses her gratitude to those who contributed to her research and enabled her to complete her PhD. “First and foremost the teenagers in Bissau who welcomed me with an open mind and trusted me with their experiences. Without them, this study would not have been possible and it is their voices that gave it meaning. I would also like to thank my colleagues in Guinea-Bissau, especially Zeca Jandi, Aladje Baldé and William Gomes Ferreira, for their invaluable support and their kindness,” she says.

She also thanks Geir Gunnlaugsson and Jónína Einarsdóttir for their trust, encouragement and sincere passion for the research that they have shared with her, as well as the doctoral committee and staff at the UI School of Social Sciences. “I would like to thank my husband, Ragnar Ingi Magnússon, who helped me collect data in the field and create the video about the research. His presence and support made all the difference. Finally, I would like to thank my doctoral committee and my opponents, Ragný Þóra Guðjohnsen and Morten Sodeman, for their valuable advice on my thesis and the interesting discussions during the defence itself,” concludes Fatou.