“With the Sustainable Development Goals now in place, it is imperative that none of our girls are left behind”, said Reni Jacob from World Vision India.
Advertisement
The Secretary-general recalled that just after the adoption last month of the Global Goals for, world leaders hread a ringing call from Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was flanked in the General Assembly Hall by young people from around the world.
Still, there is a long way to go for Sierra Leone and many other countries. “Imagine this phenomenon widening out from the village to the town, and the town to the city, over generations and for thousands of girls, and you can see that gradually, improving girls’ education across the globe will have a huge impact of the national and global economies”. Our workforce will be more productive, our economies will be sounder, our countries will be stronger and our societies more caring.
Embracing the importance of girls’ voices, Ms. Judd then opened the floor to a panel of girl activists hailing from Africa, Latin America and Europe, all of whom spoke with a wisdom that belied their years. “The World Bank reports that young women are likely to reinvest up to 90% of their income in their families and communities”, says Albrectsen. The day itself is a time to focus on how to help girls “have the right to a safe, educated, and healthy life, not only during these critical formative years, but also as they mature into women”, says the United Nations “If effectively supported during the adolescent years, girls have the potential to change the world-both as the empowered girls of today and as tomorrow’s workers, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads, and political leaders”.
“Ensuring that girls are able to exercise their rights, can pursue their education and have the skills and opportunity to join the workforce is essential for their own well-being, and a critical foundation for the health and prosperity of families, communities and nations”, said Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA executive director. Once pregnant they are up to 20 times more likely to die in childbirth than those under 20. The meeting had great significance, given that the MDGs virtually excluded girls’ rights, providing barely a mention of their needs.
Laws prohibiting discrimination in all forms must be passed and enforced.
Today, there are more girls under 10 enrolled in primary school than every before.
The evidence is clear.
Numerous underlying causes of child marriage – including social norms that devalue women and girls – apply across all the countries.
This Sunday, 11 October, is the fourth worldwide Day of the Girl Child and the focus is on adolescent girls and the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also provides statistics that 62 million girls are not in school and half of them are adolescents.
Invest in health and nutrition suitable to the adolescent years, including puberty education, menstrual hygiene management, and sexual and reproductive health education and services.
Advertisement
“Kidnap marriages” continue in the Caucasus region, where families make deals with their daughters’ abductors and abandon the girls to their fate.
