How the World Is Letting Girls Fall Behind
(heartbreaking)
How the World Is Letting Girls Fall Behind
10/10/2023 by Rachel Marchand
Girls everywhere deserve access to knowledge, opportunity and safety.
Girls attend school in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Oct. 23, 2021. (Herman Emmanuel / Xinhua via Getty Images)
Achieving gender equality and empowering girls is a necessary piece of the puzzle for a prosperous global future. But as a result of COVID-19, rising climate change events, humanitarian crises and an increased backlash against sexual and reproductive health and rights, the U.N. announced last year that progress on attaining gender equality had been set back by a staggering 300 years.
If current trends continue:
an estimated 340 million women and girls face living in extreme poverty.
an estimated 736 million women and girls will continue to face some form of gender-based violence.
an estimated 110 million girls will remain out of the classroom.
The world is letting girls fall behind at an alarming rate. This International Day of the Girl, the world must reassess its commitments to girls everywhere—for a flourishing world and, most importantly, for the individual health, rights and well-being of each girl, no matter what. We know that education, safety and self-determination are fundamental to girls’ ability to broaden their opportunities, protect their health and empower them to plan their own lives. However, barriers to societal participation, comprehensive healthcare and the ability to live free from violence ultimately stand in the way of that realization.
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Recently, countries such as Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe have either revoked discriminatory policies or passed supportive policies that allow pregnant students and adolescent mothers to continue their studies under some conditions. It’s a step in the right direction toward equal access for girls. To ensure that we are holistically investing in girls’ well-being, we cannot let a single right fall to the wayside. Girls will reach their fullest potential when global governments comprehensively prioritize their education, safety, health and autonomy. Doing so will result in the true protection of individual girls and progress toward achieving gender equality and empowerment worldwide.
Already, girls around the world are facing extreme barriers to equity and basic well-being. The impacts of the COVID-19 virus, global climate change and an increasing attack against sexual and reproductive health and rights only exacerbate these concerns that fall squarely on the shoulders of young girls. Girls deserve access to knowledge, opportunity and safety. This International Day of the Girl and beyond, global governments cannot fall back on their promises to protect the health and rights of girls. Right now, we’re failing girls everywhere, and the clock keeps ticking.
https://msmagazine.com/2023/10/10/girls-world-education-health-rights/