Life skills

The big picture

An instructor from the Children's Movement for Peace sits reading on the street with a group of school children. Colombia.

In recent years, enthusiasm for education about health and social issues has been growing in communities around the world. Though recognised by different names - "life skills", "life skills-based education", "skills-based health education" or "health and family life education" - the central idea is shared: young people, especially girls and young women, regularly face risks that threaten their health and limit their learning opportunities; yet, information alone is not enough to protect them from these risks. Life skills-based education can endow girls with skills to manage challenging situations, particularly in the context of supportive communities and environments. But, what skills are most useful? And, how can they be taught?

This web space has been created in response to many requests to clarify the term "life skills" and to offer guidance on the implementation of life skills-based education for: HIV/AIDS prevention; Health Education; Human Rights and Social Issues; and Violence Prevention, Peace Building and Education for Development.

Though life skills-based education is not limited to a particular setting, this web-resource will focus on reaching children and young people through the school setting. And, while life skills-based education can and should be used to address a wide range of issues relevant to young people, this site will concentrate on HIV/AIDS prevention to illustrate how to apply skills-based education to a specific issue.

The need to apply life skills is highlighted directly and indirectly in a number of international recommendations, including under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Conference on Population and Development, and Education for All. Most recently, in the Declaration of Commitment resulting from the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS in June 2001, countries agreed to:

"By 2005, ensure that at least 90%, and, by 2010, at least 95% of young men and women aged 15-24 have access to the information, education and services necessary to develop the life skills required to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection"

Skills-based health education is also one of the core components of the FRESH framework, an international partnership for Focusing Resources on Effective School Health (FRESH).

We hope this site serves as a useful thinking and meeting place on the web, and that it will continuously grow and improve from your contributions!

External links open in a new window and take you to a non-UNICEF web site.

Important Documents

Skills for Health
A joint paper by UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UNFPA, UNESCO, and other FRESH partners.
[PDF]