Yesterday was International Day of the Girl 2016 and I missed it, again. I need to find some way to keep current with these things if my blog is to stay relevant. I noticed it on Facebook where I follow Girl Rising (a group spawned by the kidnapping of the Nigerian school girls last year by Boko Haram) and Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls. Both great sources of inspiring stories about girls and women doing great things in the world.
Don’t get me wrong. I love men. And I have two nephews that I adore. But I think this is a particularly tough time for girls at home and across globe so I want to add my voice to this movement.
Here are some shocking facts.
- There are 31 million school-aged girls who don’t have the opportunity to attend elementary school.
- One in three girls in developing countries (except China) get married before they turn 18. Girls who are child brides miss out on education, are more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence, and bear children before they are physically or emotionally prepared.
- Two-thirds of the world’s uneducated children are girls, and two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women.
When we educate a girl, it benefits her entire ecosystem since she is more likely to bring new ideas back to rural villages and employ her education and status to build up her community. The facts are in; the case is closed. Repeated studies by the UN, the World Bank, the OECD and others demonstrate that when we make small investments in educating girls, we yield huge results for everyone.
So let’s hear it for the girl. Women’s rights are human rights.
If you want to learn more about great work being doing in the area of girl’s education and find out how you can help, check out these inspiring documentaries Time for School or Girl Rising.
If nothing else, you’ll emerge convinced that when born women in the United States, we were already among the luckiest women alive.
Boonedoggler 