Skills4Girls

There are more than 600 million adolescent girls in the world today — equipped with the right resources and opportunities, they will be the largest cohort of female leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs and change-makers the world has ever seen. They have also shown tremendous courage, strength, and resilience during unprecedented challenges, from the global COVID-19 pandemic, to spiraling climate crises, to fragility and conflict. However, their enormous potential remains constrained by multiple interlocking barriers, from negative stereotypes and harmful social norms, to discrimination in accessing technology or apprenticeships. Investing in their success creates a ripple effect that benefits individual girls, along with their families, their communities and entire societies. In other words — when girls succeed, we all succeed. 

The future workforce is projected to focus on science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and social entrepreneurship. Over 90 percent of jobs worldwide have a digital component, but options remain limited or non-existent for girls, especially adolescent girls, to excel in these male-dominated fields. Women represent only 35% of global Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics (STEM) graduates at the tertiary level. In many contexts, adolescent girls have no say in decisions that affect them, resulting in programmes and services that do not respond to their specific needs, hindering them from reaching their full potential. Globally, about 1 billion girls and women lack the skills they need to succeed in rapidly changing job markets while 1 in 4 girls aged 15–19 years is neither employed nor in education or training compared to 1 in 10 boys of the same age. The COVID-19 pandemic made things even more difficult for millions of girls, particularly those in marginalised communities. Over 11 million girls may not return to school after the COVID-19 pandemic, with severe consequences for their futures.