South Africa
Education for Development and Democracy Initiative
Leadership Development for Women and Girls in South Africa
This one-year pilot project created innovative and sustainable models for the development of local women leaders and councilors and for nurturing and igniting the potential of girls to become the leaders of tomorrow. The project was funded by the Education for Development and Democracy Initiative (EDDI), an interagency initiative of the U.S. government.
The three major components to this project were: Leadership Development Workshops for Youth (especially girls); Leadership Development Activities for Government and Local Leaders (especially women); and a research component measuring the effectiveness of the youth interventions and exploring issues related to youth and leadership. The use of information technology to lessen the 'digital divide' wove throughout the project.
The youth component entailed a five-day training course to take place during school holidays. This involved research of existing training material and best practices in the United States and Africa. This component, was subcontracted to the National Council of Negro Women, which was also responsible for establishing linkages between the participating schools and schools and youth groups in the United States. The first round of workshops took place at fifteen schools in Northern and Free State provinces (the emphasis is on rural, disadvantaged youth); nearly 500 teenagers attended. A local South African partner, the Philelana Talent Trust, administered the recruitment of 32 trainers, their training, and the 15 workshops. The responses from a Curriculum Review Workshop indicated that the workshops had been extremely successful as gauged by the trainers who participated in the training.
More feedback on the workshop intervention was gained from findings of a broader research subcontract that was awarded to another partner on the project, the University of Venda Centre for Youth Studies. Their research explored issues confronting youth in South Africa and the effectiveness of the intervention.
While this project emphasized women and girls, findings in the training needs assessment indicated that it is not advisable for training to exclude boys and men. Rather, it was decided that girls and women learn assertiveness skills when working with boys and men. 
YouthReport.pdf