If you want to change the world, invest in an adolescent girl.
An adolescent girl is at a turning point. She has big decisions to make, just like everyone does. But that girl holds a power that she doesn't realize (and a power that we choose to ignore). The decisions of our adolescent girls (in every space of our world) are changing the future...for EVERYONE.
-Today, more than 600 million girls live in the
developing world. (Population Reference Bureau, DataFinder database, http://www.prb.org/datafinder.aspx [accessed December 20, 2007].)
-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. (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision,” http://esa.un.org/unpp, and “World Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 Revision,” www.un.org/esa/population/publications/WUP2005/2005WUP_DataTables1.pdf.)
-The total global population of girls ages 10 to 24 —already the largest in history — is expected to peak in the next decade. (Ruth Levine et al., Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda [Washington, D.C.: Center for Global Development, 2008].)
Girls and the ripple effect:
When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children. (United Nations Population Fund, State of World Population 1990.)
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.
(George Psacharopoulos and Harry Anthony Patrinos, “Returns to Investment in Education: A Further Update,” Policy Research Working Paper 2881[Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2002].)
Research in developing countries has shown a consistent re- lationship between better infant and child health and higher levels of schooling among mothers.
(George T. Bicego and J. Ties Boerma, “Maternal Education and Child Survival: A Compara- tive Study of Survey Data from 17 Countries,” Social Science and Medicine 36 (9) [May 1993]: 1207–27.)
When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 per- cent of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40 percent for a man. (Chris Fortson, “Women’s Rights Vital for Developing World,” Yale News Daily 2003.)
So how does this impact us? How does this change the future of our world?
If girls stay in school, they have an opportunity to make a higher and safer income (meaning they are not selling their bodies for money). When girls have an opportunity to make their own income, they now have choice. They can choose who they will marry and when. They can decide if they want to become a mother. They are in control of their bodies. When women are in control of their bodies they can prevent the spread of diseases like HIV.
When girls receive an education, they have power to change their world. They become knowledgeable about ethics, science, education, law, medicine, etc. They can use this knowledge in their own communities to make a sustainable and equitable way of life for everyone.
When we invest in girls, we are investing in a healthier, safer, fuller world.
The key is education, and ensuring girls have access to this life changing element in their lives.
So how can you get involved? Here are some ideas (including organizations, websites, and volunteering opportunities)
