A good place to start.
Given the opportunity girls living in poverty are uniquely capable of changing their lives and the lives of their brothers, sisters, communities and countries for the better. It's a ripple effect that's a revolution in the fight against poverty.
If you want to know more – statistics, research, actions for governments, funders and NGOs – here are some resources to get you started.
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Girl Effect Fact Sheet
Get the numbers behind the girl effect – both their current realities and their potential impact on the health, wealth and wellbeing of their nations.
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The Revolution Poster
600 milion adolescent girls are ready to change the world -- but here are 10 things that stand in their way.
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Your Move
Find out what funders, policymakers, businesses and NGOs can do to unleash the girl effect, right now.
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The Girl Effect Tool Kit
The kit comes fully loaded with videos, talking points, posters, buttons and even t-shirt designs. Everything you need to your Girl Effect campaign up and running in one tidy downloadable package.
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Smarter Economics: Investing in Girls
Find out why the smart money is on girls breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty.
Download Smarter Economics: Investing in Girls (pdf, 3.54 MB)
Girls count series
The Coalition for Adolescent Girls is committed to creating lasting change in the developing world by driving investment to adolescent girls.
Girls Count is a series of key critical research documents commissioned by the Coalition. Each one explores a dimension of girls' lives – and each one contains an agenda for change.
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Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda
Girls Count provides some of the first critical research specifically focused on adolescent girls in the developing world. It demonstrates how providing support to girls age 10-18 dramatically improves their lives – and also results in significant benefits for society as a whole.
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New Lessons: The Power of Educating Adolescent Girls
This report highlights the unique educational needs of adolescent girls, provides a first-ever compendium of more than 300 past and current programs and spells out concrete actions for change.
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Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health
This report shows that a girl who reaches adolescence typically begins it in good health. But a variety of health issues during her adolescent years will determine her future - and the wellbeing of her family for generations to come.
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Girls Speak: A New Voice in Global Development
This report compiles the first-ever view of poverty from a girl's perspective. Hearing directly from them, in their own words, provides unique insight and understanding of their issues.
Other Girl Reports
Here are some more key reports relating to adolescent girls in the developing world.
General
- Because I am a Girl: The State of the World's Girls 2009 (pdf, Plan International)
- The Uncharted Passage: Girls' Adolescence in the Developing World (pdf, Population Council)
- Recognizing Rights, Promoting Progress (pdf, ICRW)
- What Men Have to Do With It: Public Policies to Promote Gender Equality (pdf, ICRW)
- Innovation for Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality (pdf, ICRW)
- Global Maps of Adolescent Girls
Economics
- Gender Equality as Smart Economics (pdf, World Bank)
- The Economic and Human Development Costs of Missing the MDG on Gender Equality (pdf, World Bank)
- A Rights-Based Approach to Realizing the Economic and Social Rights of Poor and Marginalized Women (pdf, ICRW)
- On the Map: Charting the Landscape of Girl Work (pdf, ICRW)
Health
- Knot Ready: Lessons from India on Delaying Marriage for Girls (pdf, ICRW)
- The New Normal? What Girls Say About Healthy Living (pdf, Girl Scouts)
- Reducing Adolescent Girls' Vulnerability to HIV Infection: Examining Microfinance and Sustainable Livelihood Approaches (pdf, USAID)
- Girls' Success: Mentoring Guide About HIV and AIDS (pdf, AED)
- Poverty, Gender and Youth: Marriage Considerations in Sending Girls to School in Bangladesh (pdf, Population Council)
- Targeting Poverty and Gender Inequality to Improve Maternal Health Delivering Solutions for Girls and Women (pdf, ICRW)
- Child Marriage Factsheets (ICRW)
Education
- United Nations Girls' Education Initiative Resources
- Keeping the Promise: Five Benefits of Girls' Secondary Education (AED Center for Gender Equality)
- Promoting Gender Equality in Education through Mentoring (pdf, Oxfam)
- Making Education Work: The Gender Dimension of the School to Work Transition (pdf, UNGEI)
- Girls' Education in the 21st Century (pdf, World Bank)
- Exclusion, Gender and Education: Case Studies from the Developing World (CGD)
- Inexcusable Absence: Why 60 Million Girls Aren't in School and What to do About It (CGD)
- Poverty, Gender and Youth: The Role of Schools in Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health Among Adolescents in Developing Countries (pdf, Population Council)
- A Second Look at the Role Education Plays in Women's Empowerment (pdf, ICRW)
More girl campaigns
Get inspired for action and activism in support of girls. Explore these girl-focused campaigns around the world.