Historically, women’s ability to exercise choice-–such as when to have children or whether to engage in income generating activities—has been constrained and remains severely limited, especially in low and middle-income countries. Barriers to women’s agency limit their capacity to advocate for...

There is growing evidence that life skills programmes may serve as a particularly effective avenue for addressing internal constraints women face in exercising agency, by strengthening women’s “power within”—self-efficacy, aspirations or attitudes about gender.