A gendered approach to positive girl and boy development – Key Outcomes and Recommendations of the 2018 Gender 360 Summit
The 2018 Gender 360 Summit in Washington, DC, hosted by FHI 360 along with 23 sponsor and partner organizations, brought together approximately 400 people from more than 25 countries.
This included international development donors, practitioners, researchers, global south organizations and the private sector. The Summit theme—Positive Girl and Boy Development—reflects a collective priority of the sponsors and partners and builds on the Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach.
YouthPower, a United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded initiative that improves the capacity of youthled and youth-serving institutions, defines PYD as:
Engaging youth along with their families, communities and/or governments so that youth are empowered to reach their full potential. PYD approaches build skills, assets and competencies; foster healthy relationships; strengthen the environment and transform systems.
By naming the Summit Positive Girl and Boy Development, FHI 360 and its partners were able to highlight the gendered experiences of girls, boys, and youth of diverse gender identities across the globe. These experiences and identities have an impact on girls’ and boys’ education; young people’s economic empowerment and equality; adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights; gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response; and the transformation of harmful
social norms that affect young people of diverse gender identities and sexualities.
In practice, positive girl and boy development— as well as gender transformative and inclusive strategies—consider the role of social norms across the socio-ecological framework and address the needs and rights of primary stakeholders throughout their lifecycle and abilities. These approaches facilitate and support all youth to become drivers and agents
of policy change, program development, implementation, research and accountability.