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Today's global financial and economic crisis threatens to reverse gains made to reduce poverty in the developing world. Among those hardest hit are women and girls. Before the crisis women and girls represented the majority of the world’s poor. And now they are falling deeper into poverty and face increased health risk.
The number one killer of women and girls in the developing world is childbirth. Access to family planning and comprehensive reproductive health services helps women and girls avoid unwanted or early pregnancy. This means women and girls stay healthier, more productive, and have more opportunities for education and employment, which in turn, benefits families, communities, and countries.
The world is complex and interconnected just like these issues of global poverty and gender inequity in our world. In developing countries girls are more likely to be uneducated, a child bride and exposed to HIV/AIDS. And yet less then 1% of international aid dollars are directed to improving the lives of girls.
Something needs to change now. We need to advance the rights of women and girls, and empower them to be highly productive members of society capable of contributing to economic recovery and growth.
Evidence show that when we improve a girl’s life many more lives benefit: her brothers, sisters, parents and beyond. By investing more international aid dollars to improving the lives of girls we can break the cycle of poverty in the developing world.
- When girls have 7 or more years of education, she will marry 4 years later & have 2.2 fewer children.
- If 10% more girls attend secondary school, a country’s economy grows by 3%.
- When a girl earns an income she reinvests 90% in her family, compared to 35% for a boy.
To learn more about how different programs and organizations are fighting global poverty one girl at a time click on these links below.
International Center for Research on Women
Central Asia Institute
Nike Foundation
Population Council
UNFPA - United Nations Population Fund
NoVo Foundation
The World Bank - Adolescent Girls Initiative
Save the Children
Care
We can break this cycle of poverty. Girls can be a source of prosperity and hope. When girls support one another it becomes contagious and begins to spread throughout other communities and the world.
This is The Girl Effect.
