The Girl Effect

“The Girl Effect is about boys too, because when a girl benefits, everyone benefits, her brothers, her sisters, her future children and grandchildren.

Some data: (from: www.girleffect.org )
An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10 to 20 percent. An extra year of secondary school 15 to 25 percent.
When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40 percent for a man.

More than one-quarter of the population in Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa are girls and young women ages 10 to 24.
The total global population of girls’ ages 10 to 24 –already the largest in history- is expected to peak in the next decade.

Approximately one-quarter of girls in developing countries are not in school.
Out of the world’s 130 million out-of-school youth, 70 percent are girls.
One-quarter to one-half of girls in developing counties become mothers before age 18; 14 million girls aged 15 to 19 give birth in developing countries each year.
In Nicaragua 45 percent of girls with no schooling are married before age 18 versus only 16 percent of their educated counterparts. In Mozambique the figures are 60 percent versus 10; in Senegal 41 percent versus 6.

Medical complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death among girls ages 15 to 19 worldwide. (!) Compared with women ages 20 to 24, girls ages 10 to 14 are five times more likely to die from childbirth, and girls 15 to 19 are up to twice as likely, worldwide.
75 percent of 15- to 24-years-old living with HIV in Africa are female; up from 62 percent in 2001.”

Well, these are the facts.
Facts that tell us that there is a lot that has to be done for girls and women, (in the developing countries) all over the world.
They also tell us that there is a lot that can be done. Can and should be done as soon as possible.

Education is a very important factor in a human’s life, and every (young) human has the fundamental right to get education. A good education, regardless if you are a girl or a boy.

There is still much too much violence against girls and women. We have to protect them against that, by providing safe-houses and by making sure that they can get help from a well-educated and mixed-sex police-force. And that in every country in the world women (and children) are protected by laws.

No girl in the world should have to live a horrible life through poverty or fear. Fear to be married of to some man, fear for violence, fear to have to give birth too young, fear for being mutilated, fear for being burned alive.

Every girl should have the opportunities for a good education, good healthcare and the freedom to make her own choices.

Are we in the 21st century or not?
The earth has become a ‘global village’; we know what is happening in other countries.
We can make a difference in places near and far away, by (political and/or economical) influence, by sending help and resources.

Women in the “developed” countries can join in, in the chorus of protesters all over the world.
We can speak up and tell our representatives and the world that we are a majority, and that we really want the violence against women and girls to be stopped NOW. And that we aspect that girls and women have the same rights and opportunities as men, NOW!