Call for action on girls' rights
abuses
In an era that coined the term 'girl power' millions of
girls are being condemned to a life of inequality and poverty.
It is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue
and today Plan UK is launching a massive worldwide
campaign, "Because I am a Girl", which aims to transform their
lives.
The campaign starts with the publication of a report on the
disturbing situation, pulling together global statistics
highlighting the extent of female foeticide, early marriage, abuse
and violence and the lack of education given to girls in the world's
poorer countries.
Because I am a Girl: The State of the
World's Girls, is the first in a series of global
reports on girls to be published over the next nine years by Plan.
Timed to be released on the United Nation's International Day of the
Family, it warns that the Millennium Development Goals agreed by
world leaders are likely to fail girls living in poverty.
Global statistics highlighted in the report paint a
bleak picture of some of the challenges facing girls and young women
growing up in the world's most impoverished regions:
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Girls aged 15-19 account for 50% of victims of
sexual assault worldwide
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Birth complications and unsafe abortions are the
leading cause of death for young women aged 15-19
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Seventy per cent of the 1.5billion people living
on less than a dollar a day are female
-
Stunted growth in estimated 450million women as a
result of childhood malnutrition
-
Approximately 7.3million young women are living
with HIV/AIDS, in comparison to 4.3million men
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Two thirds of 15-19-year-olds newly infected with
HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are female
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Sixty two million girls are out of primary
school
“To stop this inhuman attitude towards girls,
there should be stringent laws against the practice of child
marriages, and both the governments and the civil societies should
initiate campaigns in every community on the evil consequences of
child marriages.” Savitha, aged 14, from India
Plan's report, supported by several NGOs including the
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS),
is published two months ahead of the UN's mid review of the
millennium development goals. It warns six of the eight
targets agreed, are currently failing girls living in poverty
and the goals will be missed altogether unless world leaders
adopt a tougher stance on the enforcement of international laws set
up to protect girl's rights.
Children's champion Graça Machel welcomed the launch
of the report today and called for world leaders to be made
accountable for tackling gender inequality. She said: "This
study shows our failure to make an equal, more just world has
resulted in the most intolerable of situations. To discriminate on
the basis of sex and gender is morally indefensible; economically,
politically and socially unsupportable.
"None of the Millennium Development Goals will be
achieved without gender equality. We cannot let another minute go by
without acting decisively and urgently. Unless we do, we will be
condemning millions of girls to a life of poverty and hardship."
Ms Machel's comments were backed by Plan's UK Chief
Executive Marie Staunton who urged the international community to
make the fight against gender discrimination a priority. Ms Staunton
said: "Investing in girls yields real returns even to the poorest
countries. World Bank Research shows that if one percent more girls
have secondary education, annual per capita income growth is boosted
by 0.3% on average."
Today Plan UK announces its intention to mount an
eight-year drive to tackle discrimination against girls. As part of
its push the agency will follow the lives of 125 baby girls living
in nine developing countries as part of a cohort study on girl's
rights and gender discrimination.
Download Plan's report and join the "Because I am a
Girl" campaign |