Agency and Empowerment for Adolescent Girls: An Intentional Approach to Policy and Programming

Authors

  • Prerna Banati UNICEF
  • Lauren Rumble UNICEF
  • Nicola Jones Overseas Development Institute
  • Sarah Hendriks UN Women

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/jyd.2021.1071

Keywords:

adolescent girls, gender equality, empowerment, participation

Abstract

As national governments roll out COVID response plans, an opportunity arises to re-cast adolescent girls’ programs to centrally anchor them on girls’ voices, leadership, ambitions, and assets in development policies and programs. Drawing together the evidence on what we know works for adolescent girls, as well as the growing literature on positive strengths-based programming which are gradually and increasingly being applied, this commentary calls for a girl-intentional approach to policy and programming. A girl-intentional approach is described through 3 case studies, which illustrate the additionality of new or improved adolescent knowledge, skills, and competencies; improved opportunities for adolescent engagement, voice, and agency; improved community safety and support; stronger, healthier relationships; and stronger and healthier norms, attitudes, values, and goals. The case studies describe program hooks that facilitate operationalization, point to measurable outcomes, and identify opportunities for scale, including the re-opening of schools. Overall, inter-sectoral solutions that address the myriad of issues affecting an adolescent girl’s life and tackle pervasive gender inequities require greater emphasis by development actors and national governments.

Author Biography

Prerna Banati, UNICEF

Dr. Banati has over 20 years of international development experience with the United Nations and other international organizations. Since 2012 she has been working with UNICEF, including at their West and Central Africa Regional Office, and at the Office of Research. She brings extensive experience at the intersections of adolescence, gender and social inclusion, supporting evidence generation and technical support to rights-based country programmes of cooperation in collaboration with governments, civil society and the private sector. Over her career, she has led a number of action-research programs, most recently the DfID funded gender-responsive, adolescent-sensitive social protection, and prior to that on the social and structural determinants of adolescent wellbeing.

Before joining UNICEF, she was a Takemi Fellow at Harvard University. She has previously worked for the World Health Organization, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria, and for different NGOs. She sits on a number of advisory boards and has authored many publications in the field of adolescent health and wellbeing, including in reproductive health, mental health, HIV prevention and migration. In 2018, she co-edited the Oxford Handbook of Adolescent Development Research and its Impact on Global Policy. In 2020, she will release her new edited volume on Sustainable Human Development Across the Life Course: Evidence from Longitudinal Research on Children, Adolescents and Youth by Policy Press. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. 

 

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Published

2021-07-14

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2-3 (2021): Special Issue on International Positive Youth Development

Section

Special Issue Articles

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