Girls Issues

News from UNESCO Bangkok: Fight Poverty, Invest in Girls

 

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in Bangkok, Thailand, released an article with these important words: "If we are serious about making a real, positive change to society, we need to make a firm commitment to a long-term investment in girls’ and women’s education."

This week, May 2-8, marks Global Action Week, an annual event commemorated worldwide to highlight the importance of Education for All. UNESCO Bangkok is using this week to campaign for Gender Equality in Education:

" Let’s use this important occasion to take a closer look at this year’s theme: Gender Equality in Education. Education leads to profound life-changing choices. However, in this advanced age of the 21st Century, over 39 million girls in the Asia-Pacific region, who do not have access to a primary-level education, are still denied this fundamental human right."

In East-Asia and the Pacific, a staggering 74.5 million women are illiterate, representing 71 per cent of total 105 million adults. Women in South Asia have only half as many years of education as their male counterparts. in South and West Asia, on average, only one in two women could read and write.

Let us join UNESCO Bangkok in standing up for Girls Education. With our Vision for Girls Clubs this year, we hope to bring our Girls Club for Literacy Program to Thailand in the near future!

Girls Education Project in Nigeria by DFID

We came across this video by an organization in the United Kingdom, Department for International Development (DFID), that explains the importance of nurturing the education of girls. We thought it spoke to the mission of our Girls Club Program, and wanted to share this insightful message. DIFD is doing important work, and we hope more people can participate in causes like these. Check out the video below:

Video: Eve Ensler on 'Embracing Your Inner Girl'

In this passionate TED talk by "Vagina Monologues" author Eve Ensler, she declares that every one of us has an inner "girl cell", a cell we have been socially taught to suppress. Our Teen Girls Club in Harlem watched this video and reflected on the importance of finding courage in vulnerability, and overcoming adversity through the shocking strength and intution of being a girl. Eve Ensler delivers an important message that speaks for young women all over the world: