A staggering 500 million adolescent girls around the world are at risk of gender-based violence, exclusion from education or are missing out on reaching their economic and leadership potential, with half of these girls in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a new report by Plan International, Australia the charity for girls’ equality.
The report released on International Youth Day, August 12, 2022 – highlights that adolescent girls are being overlooked in the Australian aid program and urge the Labor Government to urgently scale up funding to programs that support girls, or else risk an entire generation being lost to the ongoing shockwaves of the COVID-19 crisis.
“We know that girls are always the hardest hit in a crisis, and COVID-19 is no exception,” said Susanne Legena, CEO of Plan International Australia.
Plan International Australia is calling on the Labor Government to increase overseas aid investment in the 2022 budget towards adolescent girls and gender-diverse young people to ensure that they can live free from violence, get back into school, and become agents of change.
A new report and policy review by the charity found that while adolescent girls in developing countries are still bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis and its devastating secondary impacts, the report also includes a survey of more than 1,000 women and gender-diverse people aged 18–24 on perceptions and opinions on Australian foreign aid – and it shows that young Australians overwhelming agree that Australia needs to do more to ensure all girls can thrive.
“The harsh reality is that adolescent girls are still not being prioritised in investments or policies, either in Australia or internationally. The world talks about focusing on ‘women and girls’ in aid and development, but in practice investments still target adult women or younger children, and adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 fall through the gap.”
Key facts and statistics on teenage girls in the developing world:
“The elevation of women to leadership roles cannot occur without those women being safe, educated and empowered in adolescence.”
Menchie Khairuddin is a writer Deputy Content Manager at Akolade and content producer for Third Sector News. She is passionate about social affairs specifically in mixed, multicultural heritage and not-for-profit organisations.
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