Save the Children’s Efforts to Reach Every Last Girl and Every Last Child

Today is International Day of the Girl Child, and I find myself remembering a young girl I met when I visited the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya a few years ago. Her family had come to the camp to escape the conflict and hunger in Somalia. Life in refugee camps is difficult, particularly for girls who are often at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation. This particular girl’s  family had decided that the best way to protect her was to arrange for her to be married. She couldn’t have been more than 14 years of age.   As a mother, this story has stayed with me.

Girls around the world in developing and developed countries face discrimination that limit their life chances. Early forced marriage is possibly the most harmful example. Save the Children’s new report on girls – Every Last Girl – found that each year, 15 million girls are married before age 18. It also projected that 60 million child marriages will happen in the next three years – the vast majority of them involving girls.

The challenges that girls face go far beyond early marriage. In the home, the needs of their brothers are often seen as more important than theirs. This can mean boys get more/better food, get to go to school, and are allowed the freedom to play outside.  In their homes and in their communities girls may face harassment and even violence. Far too many girls are at risk of dying during pregnancy because their right to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and education is denied.

Save the Children, with the support of the Canadian government and public, has made investments in the education, health and economic empowerment of girls and young women in several countries:

In Somaliland for example, where girls can be married as early as age 9, our program caters to the different and specific needs of girls and boys. We are facilitating access to reproductive health services that are adapted to early pregnancies through referrals to health services. We are providing access to educational and vocational skills training opportunities for at-risk boys and girls who married early. We are establishing girls’ and boys’ groups so that young people can become empowered and protect themselves from abuse, exploitation and various forms of violence, including child marriage.

It is clear from our work that an investment in girls and promoting gender equality requires increased access to health services, (including sexual reproductive health), quality public education, protection from violence and harm, and economic opportunity.  It also requires political will – discriminatory laws and policies must be removed and governments must invest in girls.

Finally and most importantly, we must work together to change negative cultural norms and practices that limit girls, and can even cause them tremendous harm.

As we mark International Day of the Girl Child, I am convinced that we can each commit to being champions for gender equality everywhere. We can work to build more respectful relationships between the girls and boys, men and women in our lives. We can support gender equality in our homes, schools and communities. Most importantly, we can support the work of young women around the world who are fighting for their futures.

I know I can count on your support for the continued work of Save the Children – as we do whatever it takes to reach every last girl, every last child.

Sincerely,

Patricia Erb