Devex

The Age of Opportunity

How adolescent research can shape more effective interventions on gender equality

Date

September 12, 2017

Location

Virtual Webinar

In partnership with

Speakers

Robert Blum

MD, MPH, PhD, Emeritus William H. Gates, Sr. Professor Bloomberg School of Public Health and Director, John Hopkins Urban Health Institute

Robert Blum is the lead researcher on the Global Early Adolescent Study. Prior to that he has lead a number of major international and US-based Studies. He is a frequent consultant to the World Bank, UNICEF, UNPF and the WHO.

Katherine Nichol

Director of Gender, Girl Effect

Katherine Nichol has built her career working at the intersection of gender equality, international development and adolescent girls’ issues. Currently the Director of Gender at Girl Effect, Katherine works with a technical team across multiple countries to leverage best practice and theory on what works for girls and apply it to Girl Effect’s media brands and digital products.

Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli

MBBS, MSc, Scientist, World Health Organization

Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli works on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) in the World Health Organization’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research.

Moderator

Adva Saldinger

Associate Editor, Devex

Adva Saldinger leads coverage of the intersection of business and international development. From partnerships to trade and social entrepreneurship to impact investing, she enjoys exploring the role the private sector and private capital play in development.

Event Overview

This one-hour webinar brought together experts from the often disparate worlds of adolescent biological, behavioral, and cognitive science with international development research and practice, this webinar explored the key stages of adolescence and how it can inform successful and scalable interventions. The speakers shared exclusive access to key research findings and discussed how, and why, they came together to produce the report: Age&Stage.

Age&Stage, commissioned by Girl Effect, looks at the distinct stages of adolescence and how boys and girls develop differently at each stage. It also identified several “golden threads,” or common themes, that are true across many different contexts and informed by cognitive and behavioral science.

It is widely acknowledged that adolescence is a defining stage – a window of opportunity to ensure young people enter adulthood healthy, empowered and with the agency to achieve. It is also the most effective moment to challenge discriminatory gender roles, values or norms.