To mark International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC), the Department of Gender Studies, the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics (LSE) and GAGE co-hosted an inaugural GAGE Ambassador lecture with Professor Naila Kabeer, Professor of Gender and Development at LSE and GAGE Economic Empowerment thematic expert.
Professor Kabeer presented on women’s economic empowerment across the life course and the significance of the adolescent years, based on a GAGE commissioned evidence review launched at the event. More specifically, the lecture explored the challenges of economic empowerment at different stages of women’s life course and the combination of skills, assets, opportunities and self-worth needed by adolescent girls if they are to exercise strategic voice, choice and influence in their transition into adulthood.
Following the lecture Dr Nicola Jones, GAGE Director, chaired a panel discussion. Dr Sarah Baird, Associate Professor of Global Health and Economics at George Washington University and Quantitative Research and Impact Lead for the GAGE programme, presented her research exploring the short-term impacts of a cash transfer program on the empowerment of adolescent girls in Malawi during and immediately after the two-year intervention. Jo Cooke, Deputy Head of the Inclusive Societies Department at the Department for International Development (DFID), reflected on the relevance of the research presented and outlined DFID’s policy and programming priorities on adolescent girls’ economic empowerment. The event was followed by a reception.
