Publication: Can Skills Training Programs Increase Employment for Young Women?: The Case of Liberia
Date
2012-10
ISSN
Published
2012-10
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Young people age 15 to 29 make up about
a quarter of the world's population, yet they
constitute nearly half of the world's unemployed. The
World Bank is helping to increase viable employment
opportunities for youth. In many countries, restrictive
gender norms make it harder for girls to access training and
employment opportunities. To ensure that girls and young
women are included in this agenda, the Bank launched the
Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI) in 2008. The program is
being piloted in eight low-income countries- including some
of the toughest environments for girls. Each intervention is
tailored to the country context, and includes an impact
evaluation to build the evidence base to help adolescent
girls and young women succeed in the labor market. The first
AGI pilot- the Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls
(EPAG) and young women project was launched in Liberia in
late 2009. Preliminary results from the midline survey show
that EPAG has been very successful in achieving its primary
objectives- increasing employment and earnings among young
women. The magnitude of the results is impressive when
compared to findings from other youth training programs in
developing countries. It is expected that successful
economic empowerment programs like EPAG can also indirectly
bring about positive behavioral changes and provide
spillover benefits for the families and communities of trainees.
Citation
“World Bank. 2012. Can Skills Training Programs Increase Employment for Young Women? : The Case of Liberia. Adolescent Girls Initiative Results Series;. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/25457 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”