Basic Skills

To ensure the sustainability of the economic empowerment of girls and young women, it is important to take an integrated approach that promotes the conditions and skills required for girls and young women to be successful^[1].

Part of this integrated approach relies on girls and young women having a foundation of basic skills and knowledge to help them address the multitude of barriers and obstacles that they may face in their own communities and societies.  Some of these skills include the ability to navigate deeply entrenched gender stereotypes and hierarchies of power in their communities, to access and exercise their sexual reproductive health and rights and understanding, and to recognise and address gender-based violence. Among other skills, girls and young women must develop self-confidence, conflict resolution skills, as well as a clear idea of their goals and who they are and want to be, before successfully starting their own business, continuing on to higher education, or obtaining their first job.

Sport is a proven platform for the transfer of basic skills and the development of leadership qualities. For a more comprehensive list of important skills for adolescent girls and how organisations are using sport to teach those skills, see the Life Skill section of the International Guideline for Designing Sport Programmes for Girls.