Girls’ economic empowerment involves more than learning and earning

New report looks at what it takes, what’s working and what still needs to be done

This International Women’s Day, we call for collective action to economically empower girls and young women. Standard Chartered Bank, in partnership with Dalberg Advisors published a report today to understand what it takes to accelerate girls’ economic empowerment in Africa and Asia.

The report notes that over the past three decades, there has been good progress to improve girls’ education, increase access to healthcare and to tackle gender violence, but growing urbanisation, population growth and income inequality threaten this progress. Girls’ economic empowerment is not only about improving access to education and jobs, but also improving their agency: increasing girls’ power to make and act on economic decisions.

The partnership between Dalberg Advisors and Standard Chartered was established at Standard Chartered’s Beyond Girls’ Education Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa in July 2017. The research involved gathering insights from a range of funders, implementers and experts in the field of girls’ economic empowerment.

Julie Wallace, Global Head, Community Engagement, Standard Chartered Bank, commented: “Huge strides have already been made in the quest for girls’ economic empowerment. The findings in the report reinforce the importance of a holistic approach to promoting girls’ economic empowerment. We will collaborate with clients and partners to further integrate the eight elements into our Goal programme.” Goal is Standard Chartered’s programme to empower and equip adolescent girls with the skills and confidence to help their transitions from education to income generation.

The research identifies eight elements needed for girls to develop skills and control economic resources. Together, these provide a holistic approach that addresses the multiple constraints girls face. For example, whilst gaining skills, girls need support networks and role models who help them raise their aspirations and navigate routes to completing education and gaining employment.

To date, most activity on girls’ economic empowerment has focused on increasing access to education and healthcare. The report recognises the importance of these two elements and equally, freedom from violence, time away from domestic and caring duties, freedom of movement, role models and support networks, employment and access to financial services.

To truly empower girls, creating economic opportunities alone is not enough, the report urges policymakers and communities to tackle social, political and cultural factors and provides recommendations to implement the eight elements.

These include: more forums for partnership and coordinated action; more workplace readiness programmes; more work with men, boys and older women to create a supportive environment for girls; more targeted funding and more businesses providing better goods and services to girls and young women.

Standard Chartered is responding to these recommendations by offering a forum to coordinate efforts and invites interested parties to download the report and to join the webinar on 14th March. The webinar will discuss the report findings, provide insights to new initiatives and inspire new collaborations.

When the eight elements are in place, the impact is felt on girls, their families and their communities: An example is Carol, a young mother from Uganda, who says she improved her confidence and life skills in the safe and supportive spaces of Goal partner BRAC Uganda’s girls’ clubs, she then embraced economic opportunities: “Since I received training in hairdressing, I wrote a business proposal for a salon. I was lucky, I received a start-up kit and revolving fund. I can now pay school fees, rent and care for my family. From my savings, I opened up a boutique to increase my income. My family is now living happily.”

For further information please contact:

Natasha Kwakwa
Director, Goal
Standard Chartered Bank
Tel: +44 20 7885 7693

Shaun Gamble
Executive Director, Group Media Relations
Standard Chartered Bank
Tel: +44 20 7885 5934

Kate Richards
Global Communications, Dalberg
Tel: +44 20 7812 1020