‘Empowering girls’ can create a narrow and idealised model of who ‘girls’ are and what they want.

An array of initiatives has emerged across the development spectrum seeking to empower girls, in response to both concerns about inequitable progress and faith in the social dividends of investing in girls and women.

From the Nike/DFID-funded Girl Effect, to the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up, to the G20’s G(irls)20 Summit, organisations in the development community are increasingly focusing on girls as the best catalysts for social change.