Empowering the Girl Child

Feb. 23, 2007—When a girl feels empowered, she understands she has the right to voice her opinions and her needs. She is better prepared to make healthy life decisions, exercise leadership in her family and community, and develop goals for her future well-being.

Around the world, too few girls are empowered. They are less likely than boys to complete primary or secondary schools. And, depending on where they live, girls face numerous obstacles starting from the first stages of their lives. These include female infanticide, female genital mutilation, early marriage, high rates of maternal death, and violence.

To address these challenges, governments and advocates will join the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women at their upcoming Feb. 26–March 9 session in New York. The theme will be the elimination of discrimination and violence against the “girl child.”

The session will provide an opportunity to review the status of girls worldwide. Governments will be asked to take steps to improve girls’ lives and end discrimination against girls.

A few of the many steps that the United Nations has identified as a priority for action include:

• Removing all laws that discriminate against girls;
• Establishing a minimum legal age of consent and marriage;
• Ensuring safe and equal school environments for girls;
• Establishing minimum age for employment;
• Combating sex exploitation, bonded-labor and other forms child labor; and
• Providing health, counseling and legal services to girl victims of gender-based violence.

Advocates for women and children worldwide also encourage all nations to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Treaty for the Rights of Women, formally known as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). These treaties provide a basic framework for governments to address discrimination against children and women in areas of education, health and violence. The United States is among only a handful of countries worldwide that has not ratified either treaty.

Peer Educators from the CEDPA sponsored Seshego Youth Development Forum in Limpopo, South Africa.

CEDPA has worked empowering girls through development programs for the past 30 years. The girls who have completed these programs have gone on to achieve a higher level of education, demonstrate greater HIV/AIDS awareness, and show greater ability to make decisions about marriage, spending income and education.

To learn more about how CEDPA empowers girls worldwide, visit our Girls’ Education and Youth Development page. For more information on the UN Commission on the Status of Women visit their Web site.

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