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Session Submission Summary

Developing life skills among youth: programmatic approaches and research evidence

Mon, April 15, 3:15 to 4:45pm, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Pacific Concourse (Level -1), Pacific H

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

On World Youth Skills Day 2017, President of the UN General Assembly, Peter Thomson, argued that “investing in young people, and realizing the demographic dividend, is one of the most effective, long-term, and exponential investments governments can make to achieve the 2030 Agenda and realize a future that is safe, secure, and prosperous for all.” Indeed, it is by shaping the values and skills of our youngest generations that we can ensure long-term progress on building more inclusive societies and a more sustainable world. Youth need not only technical knowledge and hard skills to foster equitable, responsible growth. They also need life skills, which some call transferable or soft skills. These comprise a range of cognitive and non-cognitive skills that empower youth to be effective, active citizens. For instance, efforts to strengthen life skills can foster self-realization, which enables youth to identify their values, strengths, and weaknesses, and the role they want to play in their communities. Life skills development programs can also build critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills, which develop an analytical mindset and solution orientation that are vital for addressing pressing social sector challenges. Additionally, they can enhance communication and teamwork, skills that help youth see other points of view and more effectively collaborate to tackle their communities’ problems. While global stakeholders increasingly recognize the promise of life skills, evidence is still growing around how to build these critical capabilities among youth. This panel explores a variety of intervention approaches for strengthening life skills—identifying key findings about what does and does not work, and flagging implications for future programming.

Mathematica Policy Research will set the stage by presenting its study on life skills that draws on the experiences of 18 projects supported by the Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education (PSIPSE), a collaborative among Dubai Cares, Echidna Giving, the Mastercard Foundation, and an anonymous donor. Mathematica will offer a snapshot of the literature on life skills development, provide an overview of various in- and out-of-school approaches for building life skills, and offer lessons from its research around program design, delivery, evaluation, and scale-up. Other panelists will each explore individual intervention approaches in detail. The Luigi Giussani Institute of Higher Education (LGIHE), which works within the educational system, will discuss its efforts to integrate assessment of life skills into Ugandan national examinations, thereby motivating teachers to work towards strengthening these skills. The Century Entrepreneurship Development Agency (CEDA) will discuss its extracurricular mentorship approach, presenting results from its social and leadership skills sessions and community dialogues. Panelists from UNICEF will explore the evidence base around sports for development, with particular attention to how sports can be used as an instrument to promote social inclusion, increase empowerment, and reduce violence. A panelist from Renmin University of China will examine this intervention approach further, investigating the factors influencing participation in sports, including individual, school, family, and community-related factors. Together, the panelists will identify lessons on how to develop well-conceived, scalable approaches to life skills development, and ultimately position youth to drive positive change in their communities.

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Chair

Individual Presentations