One of the first necessary conditions for TVET programmes to contribute to girls’ (economic) empowerment is that girls’ have access to them. There are several factors and actors that can inhibit and impede access to TVET, in particular for young women and girls.

To name just a few: laws and policies regarding equal access for girls and boys to education (political level); issues related to infrastructure, such as sanitation facilities or distance to schools and transport facilities (level of educational institutions); or constraints related to socio-cultural factors such as perceptions regarding education, training, internships and/or work of girls and women (at the level of families and community).

To address these barriers, different strategies have been identified to facilitate girls’ access to TVET:

• at the level of families and communities

• at the level of schools, TVET centres, (local) development agencies and NGOs

• at governmental and policy level