Co-authors: Archisha Chaturvedi, young researcher; Dhuwarakha Sriram, Chief of YuWaah (Generation Unlimited India); Ruth Graham-Goulder, Senior Advisor, Gender Equality, UNICEF; Soma Mahato, young researcher; and Urmila Sarkar, Deputy Director, Programmes, Generation Unlimited
Young women across the globe face significant barriers to education and employment. This issue doesn’t just appear out of nowhere in early adulthood. Adolescent girls are twice as likely as adolescent boys to be not in employment, education or training (NEET). Their gender plays a key role on why they miss out on opportunities to learn, due to child marriage, teenage pregnancy, gender-based violence, or the disproportionate burden of unpaid caregiving that falls on them.
Girls and young women not only lose the opportunity to have an education, but also opportunities for personal growth, skills development and economic independence. Gender-transformative approaches aim to address these disparities caused by structural and social root issues of gender inequality. For initiatives stemming from this approach to be effective, adolescent girls and young women must be involved and engaged in shaping them.
Moving beyond token participation
Child and youth engagement refers to the active and meaningful participation of children and young people in decisions, programmes and processes that affect their lives. Yet engagement efforts often turn out to be no more than a token gesture: children and young people may be offered a seat at the table, but rarely do they get a chance to truly influence decisions. Such performative engagement is experienced particularly by girls and young women, whose voices often remain unheard in decisions that shape their futures.1
Soma Mahato, a young researcher from eastern Indian state of Jharkhand is one of the many young women who are now leading change by using the power of research to make a real impact. In a world where girls’ insights are often overlooked and undervalued, the Generation Unlimited Girls’ Education and Skills Partnership (GESP) and the UNICEF Skills4Girls initiative are driving transformative work. Key to this effort is training girls and young women in participatory research so that they can help design skilling programmes targeted at them, as Soma describes.
“During the training, I learned that my ideas matter as a young woman from Maithon. It made me believe that I can help my community. Participating in this research has allowed me to share what young women in my community need. I can talk about issues like education and the ability to earn money. My ideas can help find solutions, and this way, society will understand the needs of women to become capable and independent.”
Skilling initiatives created for girls and young women with their insights not only help them acquire the knowledge and tools to thrive in the job market and close the gender gap, but also have a say in policies and initiatives that affect their lives. When children and young people are meaningfully involved in decision-making, the outcomes will be more inclusive, relevant, and responsive to the community’s needs. This means empowering the younger generation – especially girls and young women like Soma – to share their unique views and lived experiences. This is true child and youth engagement in action.
Empowering girls to steer meaningful participation and decision-making
At UNICEF and Generation Unlimited, we advocate for a model of youth engagement where the voices of young women are not just heard in decision-making processes but are central to them. For instance, the UNICEF Skills4Girls programme has aimed to take this approach at each stage of policy and programme design, implementation, adaptation and learning. The voices of girls are powerful and pivotal in shaping what we do.
Lessons from the Skills4Girls approach have directly shaped the global UNICEF Adolescent Girls Programme Strategy and agenda at large.2 This includes the creation of the first UNICEF Global Girl Leaders Advisory Group , which has in turn influenced new programmes that reach millions of adolescent girls. Lessons from Skills4Girls also shaped a poll on policy priorities to advance girls’ rights – which reached over 500,000 girls, boys and young women and men – and helped set the strategic direction for this agenda across UNICEF.
Young women leading change in their communities through participatory research
Integrating participatory research into programming is about ensuring that solutions are shaped by the very individuals they aim to serve. For example, evidence shows that involving adolescent girls and young people in the monitoring and evaluation of programmes leads to the development of more relevant solutions, ultimately making for more effective programming.3
GESP has integrated this approach by building the capacity of young women to lead evidence generation efforts and influence initiatives that set out to support girls. For instance, participatory action research and evaluation workshops held in India and scheduled in Bangladesh will give young women the knowledge and skills to lead research efforts in their communities. The training workshops equip young women to design research questions and tools, collect data, analyse information and present their findings. With the support of trainers and mentors, participants learn how to communicate their findings, influence programmatic decisions and advocate for better employment and skilling opportunities for girls.
Feedback about the workshops has been overwhelmingly positive. Archisha Chaturvedi, who took part as a young researcher in a workshop in India, now feels empowered to contribute to research.
“Learning how to collect data made me realize how my insights could influence programmes affecting young women. In my experience, I couldn’t have asked for a better team of facilitators; they were engaging, supportive and attentive to everything we had to say. I gained confidence in presenting my ideas and advocating for my peers, thanks to the incredible facilitators who encouraged us to express ourselves openly and without fear. This realization inspired me to fully embrace my role as a young female researcher, understanding that my voice plays a vital role in building a better future.”
Equipped with the skills and confidence to conduct research on issues related to girls’ education, skills development and employment opportunities, the young female researchers part of the first cohort in India have begun their fieldwork in their communities. By gathering data and engaging with their peers, the researchers will identify barriers that young women face in accessing digital skills training, especially in contexts where gender norms often restrict girls’ access to learning opportunities. By the end of 2024, the researchers’ insights will start to inform how programmes like GESP and Skills4Girls can better meet the needs of young women in the countries where the initiatives operate.
Recommendations to design programmes for and with adolescent girls and young women
True child and youth engagement means more than inviting young people into the conversation – it means trusting them to lead it. As our young female researchers continue their work, they remind us that youth engagement must go beyond consultation. It must become the foundation of how we develop, implement and evaluate programmes for girls and young women with girls and young women.
“By providing training and resources that address their needs, organizations can help young women feel included and heard, empowering them to confidently contribute to programme design and implementation,” says young researcher Archisha Chaturvedi. “This inspires young women to not only build their own skills and confidence but also position themselves as community leaders and change-makers, motivating several other women on the way.”
To empower girls to lead change, we offer the following policy recommendations, which are shaped by recent Generation Unlimited and UNICEF work with adolescent girls and young women:
- Bring the voices of adolescent girls and young women into decision-making processes: Establish female-led committees and mechanisms for girls and young women to participate in all stages of policy and programme development, from design to evaluation.
- Scale participatory research models: Expand and embed participatory approaches for adolescent girls and young women to lead research initiatives, gathering insights and data to ensure that initiatives are grounded in the real-life experiences of girls and young women.
- Build the agency of girls and young women to influence, lead, co-design and co-produce policies and programmes: Provide sustained financial support, mentorship and training for girls and young women to develop skills that enable them to lead and to act on their ideas.
Background to the initiatives
The Girls’ Education and Skills Partnership (GESP) is an innovative initiative designed to empower young women in Bangladesh, India and Nigeria by equipping them with high-quality, market-relevant skills. GESP was developed through a collaborative effort between the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; UNICEF’s Public–Private–Youth Partnership Platform Generation Unlimited; and private sector organizations. GESP aims to bridge the gap between education and employability, ensuring that girls and young women are not only educated but also prepared for sustainable economic opportunities in their respective local economies.
Through the Skills4Girls initiative, UNICEF is currently working for and with girls in more than 20 countries to bridge the skills gap to enable girls to be competitive in the 21st century workforce. The approach includes girl-centred engagement; skills training designed to focus on competencies that position girls to participate equally and to transition to employment; and strategies – including safe spaces, mentorship, internship, access to technology, and to counter armful gender norms – tailored to girls’ needs in a given context.
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- Kilby, Ben, ‘Gender and Communication in Children and School: Aligning theory and evidence’, SN Social Sciences, vol. 3, no. 36, 2 February 2023. Available at: <https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-023-00622-w>, accessed 9 October 2024.
- Rumble, Lauren, Suzanne Petroni and Ruth Graham Goulder, ‘Early Learnings from UNICEF’s Work to Employ Gender Transformative Approaches to Advance Adolescent Girls’ Rights’, Child Protection and Practice, vol. 2, August 2024, 100026. Available at: <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chipro.2024.100026>, accessed 9 October 2024.
- Datta, Namita, et al., ‘Integrated Youth Employment Programs: A stocktake of evidence on what works in youth employment programs’, Jobs Working Paper issue no. 24, World Bank Group, Washington, D.C., 2018. Available at <http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/307301552636285526/Integrated-Youth-Employment-Programs-A-Stocktake-of-Evidence-on-What-Works-in-Youth-Employment-Programs>, accessed 9 October 2024.
