The project’s aim and objectives

DECISIONS FOR LIFE focuses on Millennium Development Goals no 3 (MDG3): “Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women”, and more specifically on MDG3.5: “Promoting formal employment and equal opportunities at the labour market”, which is one of the four MDG3 priority areas identified in the Policy Rules on the MDG3 Fund.

DECISIONS FOR LIFE focuses on adolescents (defined as women aged 15-29) working or looking for work in eight large occupational groups in the service sector in 14 developing countries.

The project’s main objective is to raise awareness amongst these young adolescent female workers concerning future employment opportunities and career possibilities, family building, and the work-family balance.

The vast majority of the women in this group will set up a family within the foreseeable future. They most likely will then face a hard time, when it comes to decisions about continuing employment and finding solutions for maternity leave and childcare. When setting up a family, the chances that women will quit their jobs due to termination of contract or forced dismissal are higher than in other age groups. In most of the selected countries, these relatively well-educated adolescent women face the same challenges concerning their future life.

The lifetime decisions of adolescent women determine not only their individual future, but also that of society, as their choices are key to the demographic and workforce development of the nation.

DECISIONS FOR LIFE aims to support these women in making informed decisions.