The Issue
There are 1.1 billion girls today, a powerful constituency for
shaping a sustainable world that’s better for everyone. They are
brimming with talent and creativity. But their dreams and potential are
often thwarted by discrimination, violence and lack of equal
opportunities. There are glaring gaps in data and knowledge about the
specific needs and challenges that girls face.
What gets counted, gets done. The theme for this year’s International
Day of the Girl Child, on 11 October, “Girls’ Progress = Goals’
Progress: A Global Girl Data Movement”, is a call for action for
increased investment in collecting and analyzing girl-focused,
girl-relevant and sex-disaggregated data. One year into the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development, improving data on girls and addressing the
issues that are holding them back is critical for fulfilling the
Sustainable Development Goals
One such issue that is standing in the way of girls’ progress is
child marriage. The data is daunting—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. The cycle of violence that begins in girlhood,
carries over into womanhood and across generations. The 2030 Agenda must
address their needs and unlock their potential.
UN Women works around the world to empower women and girls and raise
awareness on their rights, advocate for the adoption and implementation
of laws and policies that prohibit and prevent child marriage, and
mobilize communities against the practice.
On the International Day of the Girl Child, we stand with the global
community to support girls’ progress everywhere. Let girls be girls.
Fast Facts on child marriage
- Globally, one in seven adolescent girls aged 15 - 19 are currently married or in union [1].
- In developing countries (excluding China), one in every three
girls is married before reaching age 18. This means the futures of
47,700 girls are derailed every day [2].
- Girls who are married early often face a cascade of other human
rights abuses. They are more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence.
They are often pulled out of school to take on domestic
responsibilities. They are less able to advocate for themselves and
their rights [3].
- Child marriage is often followed by pregnancy, even if a girl is
not yet physically or mentally ready. Every day, over 20,000 girls
under age 18 give birth in developing countries—over 7 million a year [4].
- Educated girls are more likely to delay marriage and pregnancy.
With secondary schooling, girls are up to six times less likely to marry
as children compared to girls who have little or no education [5].
- Across the globe, rates of child marriage are highest in
sub-Saharan Africa, where around 4 in 10 girls marry before age 18;
about one in eight were married or in union before age 15. This is
followed by Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East and
North Africa, where 24 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively, of women
between the ages of 20 and 24 were married in childhood [6] .
Statements and speeches
“Without progress for girls, there can be no real progress”—Executive Director
In a statement for International Day of the Girl Child, UN Women
Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka highlighted the importance of
gender data to improve statistics on priority issues for girls.
Girls’ Progress = Goals’ Progress: What Counts for Girls
The world’s 1.1 billion girls are part of a large and vibrant
global generation poised to take on the future. Yet the ambition for
gender equality in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlights
the preponderance of disadvantage and discrimination borne by girls
everywhere on a daily basis. Only through explicit focus on collecting
and analyzing girl-focused, girl-relevant and sex-disaggregated data,
and using these data to inform key policy and program decisions, can we
adequately measure and understand the opportunities and challenges girls
face, and identify and track progress towards solutions to their most
pressing problems.
With this in mind, the theme for this year's International Day of the Girl (11 October) is Girls' Progress = Goals' Progress: What Counts for Girls.
While we can applaud the ambition and potential of the SDGs for girls,
and recognize how girls’ progress is good not only for girls, but also
for families, communities and society at large, we must also take this
opportunity to consider how existing gaps in data on girls and young
women, lack of systematic analysis, and limited use of existing data
significantly limit our ability to monitor and communicate the wellbeing
and progress of half of humanity.
Much more can and needs to be done to harness the
data required to ensure programs, policies and services effectively
respond to the specific needs of girls. When we invest in girls’ health,
safety, education and rights - in times of peace and crisis - we
empower them to reach for their dreams and build better lives for
themselves and their communities. Only when investments in programs for
girls on issues that particularly affect them - due to both their age
and gender - are complemented with corresponding investments in data on
girls, can we make real progress towards greater accountability in
domains of critical importance to them.
Sources :
https://www.un.org/en/events/girlchild/
http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/girl-child
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Title : International Day of the Girl Child 11 October 2016 Edition
Description : The Issue There are 1.1 billion girls today, a powerful constituency for shaping a sustainable world that’s better for everyone. They ...
