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LEARNING FROM PR ACTICE SERIES J U N 2 013Life Skills: What are they, Why do theymatter, and How are they taught?“[Life skills training]has helped usknow how to talk topeople.”Liberia EPAG traineefrom Doe CommunityWhat Are Life Skills?Life skills programs are designed to teach a broadset of social and behavioral skills—also referredto as “soft” or “non-cognitive” skills—that enableindividuals to deal effectively with the demands ofeveryday life. Programs can build on any or all ofthe following skills: decision-making (e.g. critical and creativethinking, and problem solving);community living (e.g. effective communication, resisting peer pressure, building healthyrelationships, and conflict resolution);personal awareness and management (selfawareness, self-esteem, managing emotions,assertiveness, stress management, and sexual and reproductive health behaviors andattitudes).Life skills programs can empower and guidelearners to think critically about how gender normsand human rights govern their interactions with others and affect their behaviors, which is a feature ofthe Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI) Pilots.These skills can be particularly important duringadolescence, which is filled with new feelings, physical and emotional changes, excitement, questions,and difficult decisions. It is also a time when thedifferences between young men and women becomemore pronounced and gender norms take a strongerhold in governing young people’s aspirations andbehaviors. As they move through adolescence, lifeskills can help young people overcome the challengesof growing up and improve the quality of their youngadult lives. Unfortunately, not much is known abouthow malleable these skills are at different ages orif there are important differences across the sexes.However, it is generally acknowledged that theseskills can be augmented at least up until the endof the teenage years1, and that they are importantfor both young men and women.Life skills programs move beyond providinginformation. Although it is important to deliverinformation and to reinforce such knowledge periodically, this alone is rarely enough to motivatepeople to change behavior. Life skills programsaim to develop young peoples’ abilities and motivations to make use of all types of information. Theapproach should be interactive, using role plays,games, puzzles, group discussions, and a variety ofother teaching techniques to keep the participantwholly involved in the sessions.Why Do Life Skills Matter?LIFE SKILLS MATTER FOR HEALTHOUTCOMESEconometric analysis shows that non-cognitiveabilities (e.g. self-control, sociability, and so forth)explain a variety of correlated risky behaviors andoutcomes such as teenage pregnancy and marriage,drug use, and participation in illegal activities.2 Thepublic health literature finds that young people withgender equitable attitudes have better sexual healthoutcomes than their peers, and the converse is alsotrue. For example, young people who believe thatmales should be “tough” and more powerful thanfemales are less likely to use condoms or contraception, more likely to have multiple sex partners,

2AGI LEARNING FROM PR ACTICE SERIESand more likely to be in intimate relationships thatinvolve violence.3LIFE SKILLS MATTER FOR EDUCATIONAND LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES“I’ve never taken aclass like this before—it is so useful—nowI know the real skillsyou need for life.”Nepal AGI trainee fromoutside KathmanduEconometric and psychology studies in developedcountries suggest that non-cognitive skills canaffect both education and labor market outcomesin developed countries.4,5,6,7 However, much less isknown about how to develop these skills and aboutthe impacts of comprehensive (vocational/technicaland life skill) training programs.Comprehensive interventions to improve youthemployability and human capital were first introduced in developing countries in the early to mid1990s with the Jóvenes programs in Chile, Venezuela,Argentina, Paraguay, and Peru, and later replicatedthroughout Latin America. Experience from theseyouth training programs suggests that life skills area key complement to increase the effectiveness ofvocational skills.8 There have been a number ofrigorous evaluations of comprehensive interventions,however the evaluation designs have focused onmeasuring the impact of the total program package on non-cognitive, behavioral, and employmentoutcomes, rather than the stand-alone impact of thelife skills component.9,10,11The Jordan AGI measured the direct impactof training in a sub-set of life skills focused onemployability among community college graduates(see Table 1 for more program details). A rigorousimpact evaluation of the intervention found thatthe life skills training had no average impact onemployment (1 year later), although there is aweakly significant impact outside the capital city.12The life skills training did improve positive thinkingand mental health among the beneficiaries. It is notknown why the life skills training did not work inJordan, although it is thought that structural issuesin the labor market interfered with the effectivenessof the project.More research is needed to understand boththe direct and indirect effects of life skills programs.Life skills programs might matter on their own, andthey may have an interaction effect for vocational/technical skill training programs to be effective. Thisevidence is particularly important for policymakinggiven that life skills programs can be implementedfor approximately one-half to one-third of the costof a full vocational course.13 More research is alsoneeded to understand the mechanisms throughwhich life skills training can improve youth laboroutcomes and to improve the instruments used tomeasure such skills.14How Does the AGI Teach Life Skills?There are many different models for implementinglife skills programs—whether formally throughschools, informally through community organizations, or—as in the AGI—in the context of a programdesigned for another purpose (e.g., livelihoods,vocational training).15 Life skills programs—or inthe case of Lao PDR and Jordan, a subset of theseskills focused on employability—are incorporatedinto all of the AGI pilots. Typical duration of programswithin AGI pilots is approximately 40 hours overthe course of several months. For each of the AGIpilots, Table 1 summarizes (i) the key steps in thecurriculum development; (ii) the training content;and (iii) the implementation model.16 This sectionsynthesizes key lessons learned from the AGI pilotson how to design and implement a life skills program.Lesson Learned: Adapt life skills programs for local lives.An assessment of the community and the targetaudience should be conducted to help tailor thelife skills program to specific local needs. If avulnerability study was conducted to inform theproject design, this analysis can also help identifykey issues to include in the life skills curriculum.Other organizations that may also be teaching lifeskills should be consulted to see if locally-adaptedcurriculums already exist. If not, international bestpractices can be drawn on to develop the programcontent, but then adapt sessions to make them moreappropriate to the local culture.17 This may entailtranslating the curriculum into local languages,changing names or situations in role plays, and adding or discarding certain modules. The curriculummay need to be updated on a regular basis to remainrelevant. Remember to think carefully about the ageand literacy levels of the beneficiaries. Curriculumsworldbank.org/gender/agi

3Table 1: Life Skills in the AGI PilotsContentImplementation Curriculum developed by the Banktask team based on internationalexperience. Informed by consultations withadolescent girls. Local consultant hired to adapt thecurriculum. Vetted among Government Ministries. Psychosocial educationCivic engagement and leadershipSex, gender and violenceSexual and reproductive healthPreparing for workReducing risks related to naturaldisasters Financial literacy Implemented by CBO’s and technicaltraining providers. Curriculum developed by BusinessDevelopment Center (BDC), aJordanian NGO. Informed by consultations withemployers. Effective communication and businesswriting skills Team-building and team work skills Time management Positive thinking Customer service CV and interview skills Implemented by BDC. 45 hours over a 9 day period (5 hoursper day), with a maximum of 30participants per group. Sessions held during daylight hours atlocally known and trusted institutionssuch as the Chambers of Industry andlocal universities. Curriculum developed by serviceproviders with EPAG coordinationteam. Informed by “Girls VulnerabilityAssessment” conducted prior toproject implementation. Adapted from several resources, bothin-country and international. Preparing for the world of workSexual and reproductive healthFamily skillsHealthy livingPreventing and responding to SGBVCommunication, self-esteem, andleadership Know your rights Community service Implemented by EPAG serviceproviders (a mix of Liberian andinternational NGOs). Classroom training phase runs for sixmonths. Training tracks vary: 3–4 hoursper day, 3–4 days per week. All classes held during daylight hoursat training venues in communitieswhere trainees reside. Curriculum developed by the Centrefor Development and PopulationActivities (CEDPA). Consultant hired to tailor thecurriculum for the target group ofthe AGEI and field test with the T&Eproviders. Classroom training is 40 hours over 5days following the technical training. The T&E providers subcontractspecialized trainers to deliver the lifeskills training. Trainers trained via a training oftrainers (ToT) model, with a refreshercourse.South SudanNegotiation skillsDealing with discriminationWorkers’ rights educationSexual and reproductive healthBusiness development skills andfinancial management Curriculum developed by BRAC based Skills of making effective decisions Course is conducted over 5 monthson a similar AGI project in Uganda, Skills of knowing and living with others(20 hourly sessions) within the Girlsand adapted to the South Sudan Skills of knowing and living withClub premises.environment.oneself Adolescent Girl Leaders trained by Sexual and reproductive healthBRAC to deliver the life skills via a(menstruation, early pregnancy, STI/training of trainers (ToT) model, with aHIV prevention, family planning, etc.)mid-way refresher course. Leadership Gender and bride price Rape (meaning, prevention strategies,responding and coping)Lao PDRNepalLiberiaJordanHaitiDevelopment Local firm hired to provide certifiedtraining on counseling and soft skillsto career counselors. Training session and materials werethen developed by the counselors,informed by a needs assessmentamong students. Team work skillsNegotiation skillsProblem solvingCV and interview skillsworldbank.org/gender/agi 1–2 day training with co-ed classes. Implemented by career counselors atthe National University of Laos andPakpasak Technical College.