Girls’ Economic Empowerment: implementation results across 4 countries

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Monday II)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Girls’ economic empowerment: results of a global project and insights in the underlying partnership

Proposal

The Credit Suisse Financial Education for Girls programme was launched in June 2014, with partner organizations Plan International UK and Aflatoun International. The programme is implemented in Brazil, China, India and Rwanda, providing approximately 100,000 girls with financial education and life skills.

The curriculum is delivered through classroom and club session and includes: self-understanding and personal exploration, rights and responsibilities, saving and spending, planning and budgeting, and social and financial enterprise development; all of which contribute to girls’ economic empowerment.

The panelists will present the endline review from the Financial Education and Life Skills (FELS) programme for adolescent girls in Brazil, China, India and Rwanda and how learnings through four years of implementation have resulted in programmatic adaptation. Results to present from the endline will include changes in girls’ financial education and life skills knowledge, planning and budgeting knowledge, and parental support towards girls learning financial skills.

As the programme winds down in Rwanda and India, the panelists will also present key learnings and successes vis a vis the sustainability of programme activities.

Key recommendations from the global review will include:

• How adaptive programming has contributed to the programme’s success
• Placing particular importance upon the local economy and how interventions must be matched to what is realistic
• Clubs must be made as gender inclusive as possible, reaching all who are interested
• Practical activities are essential for students to take the step from FELS knowledge to use
• The need to continue working closely with teachers and local education officials to advocate for enabling environments for girls is vital.

Author

• Nicola Hughes, Plan International UK