Syv unge Because I am a Girl bidragsydere: Michaela

Michaela – 14 år gammel.
Så snart hun lærte om Because I am a Girl, gik Michaela til hendes skole inspektør og spurgte om hun måtte lave en præsentation for alle de studerende. Hun gav så præsentationen til alle de 500 elever i hendes middle school. Hun har også sat plakater op i lobbyen og i hendes klasseværelse og delt klistermærker ud. Michaela har sagt: “Jeg synes at alle børn skal have husly, mad, vand, uddannelse og kærlighed. Jeg forsøger at hjælpe så meget jeg kan.”

Forced marriage laws will protect Australian girls

Hundreds of Australian girls at risk of forced marriage would be protected if proposals to make forced marriage illegal are passed into law, says global child rights agency Plan International Australia.

This month a Senate committee recommended that a specific criminal offence for forced marriage should be introduced. People found guilty of forcing others into marriage would face up to seven years' jail.

Læs mere om det her på Plan Australien's side.

Education for girls in Niger: A ticket to freedom

Did you know that Niger is the second poorest country in the world? As a result, Niger has one of the lowest school enrollment rates across the globe.

Girls who receive an education are better positioned to have the resources and knowledge they need to make more informed life choices for themselves, their families and their communities. But only 38% of girls in Niger enroll in secondary school and only 2.5% of girls continue in school after their secondary education.

In Niger, many parents are illiterate and hold little value for girls’education. This lack of parental support contributes to the low enrollment rates. As a result, 85 per cent of women in Niger cannot read and write.

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Kornbanker støtter børnene i Sahel

"Den magre sæson" er en del af livet for de familier, der lever af landbrug i Afrikas Sahel-region. Selv i de bedste år er der altid en periode, hvor kornkamrene nærmer sig bunden, inden de næste afgrøder er klar til at blive høstet.

De seneste par år har høsten imidlertid været så begrænset, at det har kulmineret i dette års fødevarekrise på tværs af den vestafrikanske Sahel-region. Det har fået millioner af mennesker til at sulte. Alene i Niger er 6,4 millioner børn og familier ramt af krisen. Heldigvis ser den kommende høst ud til at blive god, og det bør forbedre situationen.

Læs mere om hvordan kornbanker støtter børn i Sahel her!

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Real choices, real lives, real girls: del 2

When it comes to rights like gender equality and universal education, the study is revealing some very encouraging developments.

Some quotes from the girls and their families, about the importance of education for girls:

“I want to be a teacher when I grow up and I like to wash plates and bowls and help my mum collect firewood.”Chhea, aged 6, Cambodia

“My parents cannot read and write. They didn’t receive any formal education. My mother forced me to give up school in order to assist my elder sister who delivered a baby in Cotonou. It affected me and I never forgot it.”Marcelle’s mother, Benin

“Whenever she comes back from school she repeats wonderfully all that she has learned. This is a source of pride for the family.”Maridiyatou’s mother, Togo

"A girl should be given priority to study because there’s a better chance girls will graduate.”Edwina’s father, the Philippines

All 142 girls in the study should be starting school this year. We wish them the best, and will continue to follow them until 2015, the year the Millennium Development Goals are set to be achieved.

Want to learn more about the study, and meet 8 of the girls participating? Click here to read the report, and to explore our interactive map, focusing on 8 girls in different countries.

Plan welcomes ‘Education First’ initiative

Global child rights organization Plan International has welcomed the UN Secretary General BAN Ki-moon’s'Education First' initiative aimed at ensuring education for all children across the globe.

The initiative was launched at a high-level event at the UN in New York yesterday, attended by several Heads of State, business, civil society leaders and UN officials.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly Nigel Chapman, CEO of Plan International, said: “On behalf of Plan I would like to welcome the launch of Education First. I have seen first-hand the power education has of transforming the lives of children and communities. I have also seen firsthand how many children are still missing out on their chance to a quality education.The initiative, therefore, is a promising start to put education back on track. It unites the UN agencies and programs, governments, business leaders and civil society to join forces for global action.”


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MPs support International Day of the Girl

Labour MP Graeme Morrice has launched an Early Day Motion in parliament, supporting official recognition of the International Day of the Girl.

This comes after an extensive campaign by Plan to establish a dedicated day highlighting the rights and accomplishments of girls around the world.

The motion also suggests that the House “recognises the link between girls' education and poverty; acknowledges that 70 per cent of those in poverty worldwide are female; notes that one in three girls around the world is denied an education as a result of poverty, conflict or discrimination; and supports Plan's Because I Am A Girl campaign which aims to help girls reach their full potential.”

“The Day of the Girl will make girls feel respected, recognised and their contributions valued in society,” says Lil Shira from Cameroon, member of a Plan-supported delegation of girls at the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women.

Læs mere på Plan UK's side her!

35 tons of aid flown to Niger for flood-affected children

Emergency relief supplies have landed in Niger for victims of severe floods, which struck the regions of Tillabéri and Dosso.

The supplies, donated to Plan by Irish Aid in Dublin, include tents, tarpaulins, jerry cans, mosquito nets and blankets. It is part of the continued commitment by the Irish government to the people most in need in crisis-hit Niger.

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Real choices, real lives, real girls: del 1

In 2007, Plan began a research study called “Real Choices, Real Lives” that is part of the Because I am a Girl initiative. The study will follow the lives of 142 girls from around the world, from birth until their ninth birthdays, to monitor the progress made globally for girls towards the Millennium Development Goal.

Using in-depth interviews with the girls’ families and with the girls themselves, plus focus groups and annual surveys, the study aims to support the research in Plan’s annual State of the World’s Girls reports by bringing to life the reality of girls’ lives around the world. It will help us to understand what works to support girls and their families to move out of poverty. And it will give us valuable insights into what girls need to improve their lives and to take advantage of opportunities that should be theirs by right.

Paralympic champion Sarah Storey lights up London Eye for Plan

Britain’s greatest ever Paralympian Sarah Storey OBE is supporting Plan UK’s activities marking the first ever UN International Day of the Girl on 11th October 2012. It’s our chance to draw attention to issues faced by millions of the world’s poorest girls, as a result of poverty and discrimination.
11-time gold medal winner Sarah Storey is lighting up the London Eye in pink and white ahead of the day, when we will join forces with the Southbank to host the ‘WOW Girls’ festival, including an all-female takeover of the EDF Energy London Eye.

Læs mere det og hvilke andre steder der deltager i dette her!

Urgent Funding Needed for Emergency Response Programs after Severe Flooding in Cameroon

Urgent support is needed to aid the emergency response programs operating in Cameroon after severe floods have swept away homes and displaced more than 67,000 people.

In the Far North region, the Logone River has flooded and more than 20,000 of its citizens have been left homeless. Local authorities had attempted to open Maga Dam's evacuation and overflow outlets to prevent further flooding. However, two of the dykes have since collapsed and the town of Maga has been flooded.

Læs mere om hvad vi gør i Cameroun her!

Syv unge Because I am a Girl bidragsydere: Mackenzie

Mackenzie – 9 år gammel.
Efter hendes homeroom lærer underviste en klasse om vigtigheden i at hjælpe andre, tog Mackenzie affære og var vært ved hendes egen fundraiser. Mackenzie lavede og solgte poser med slik og magneter for $2 each. Hun solgte dem sammen med et familie medlem ved hendes Brownie troop, i lærerværelset på skolen, ved hendes dagpleje og på det lokale medborgerhus. Hun donerede de midler hun rejste til at støtte piger uddannelse og Because I am a Girl initiativet. Mackenzie har sagt: “Jeg tror at alle piger skulle kunne have de samme retigheder som jeg har, så jeg tænkte at det var det jeg skulle rejse penge til.”

Plan cautiously optimistic over Sahel harvest forecast

Plan welcomes the news that harvests in the Sahel should be better this year but warns that the world should not let its guard down, just yet, because children remain at risk in the Sahel which continues to battle several emergencies.

Roland Berehoudougou, Plan’s Disaster Risk Manager for West Africa, says that it is too early to pronounce the Sahel Food Crisis over.

“We are cautiously optimistic because we know from experience that better harvests do not necessarily mean improved food security. We also know that this year’s Sahel Food Crisis was triggered by a number of factors well beyond those that were considered by CILSS,” says Berehoudougou.

CILSS (the inter-agency task force on drought in the Sahel) says that increased cereal production this year could be 5-17% higher than last year. The preliminary forecast is based on a number of factors including greater availability of seeds, improved fertilizers and pesticides, farming equipment sold at subsidized cost and better rainfall.

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Education for peace in action

The International Day of Peace falls on September 21, a UN-declared day that is recognized annually to strengthen the ideals of peace and tolerance, both within and among all nations and people.

At Plan, we celebrate this occasion through our program work in the field all year round, promoting peace, anti-violence, and safety within one of our key focus areas: education.

Our global Learn Without Fear campaign aims to reduce the incidence of bullying, sexual abuse, and corporal punishment against children and youth in the school environment. Child protection is also embedded in everything we do.

View the slideshow to see how Plan is helping communities combat this daily reality for millions of children, promoting their rights to quality education and to a future of possibility.

Relief kits delivered to flood-hit families in Myanmar

Plan is distributing relief kits to 3,375 people in 4 flood-affected villages of Kyaung Gone Township in Myanmar.

Monsoon flooding in August affected 70,000 people along the Ayeyarwady Delta, forcing 467 schools to close.

An assessment conducted by Plan and local partner Swanyee Development Foundation identified a need for non-food items among families who had been unable to evacuate from the villages of Pauk Ngu, Doe Tan, Tet Seik, Laye Kwellaher.

Plan’s relief kits comprise of hygiene items, mosquito nets, blankets, and clothes for children. Although the flood water has now receded in affected areas, muddy conditions are slowing down all community activities and access remains difficult as villages can only be reached by river.

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Sådan hjælper Plan i Niger

Niger i Vestafrika har som bekendt været ramt af fire alvorlige kriser i løbet af få måneder: Sult, flygtningekrise, kolera-udbrud og oversvømmelser. Plan er konstant til stede og hjælper børnene og deres familier.

Nigers præsident besøgte forleden en uddelingspost, som hjælper ofrene for de seneste oversvømmelser. Præsidenten var taknemmelig for Plans støtte til lokalsamfundene.

Nedenfor kan du læse nogle af vores resultater:

· Plan har uddelt 2.798 tons mad til 65.000 mennesker, som er påvirket af fødevarekrisen.

· 48 kornbanker er blevet fyldt, så der er mad til befolkningen.

· Vi har forberedt skolemad til skolestart i oktober, så 69 skoler med 6.830 elever får mad. 200 tons mad vil blive uddelt inden for de næste to uger.

· Vi administrerer fortsat flygtningelejren Tabareybarey, hvor 8.494 mennesker bor.

· Plan forstætter med at drive to skoler - én i Tabareybarey flygtningelejren og én i Mangaize. Her tilbydes flygtningebørnene undervisning og børnebeskyttelse.

A call for help: 18 million at risk of hunger in the Sahel

It started with a food crisis in the Sahel region of West Africa, caused by severe drought and locust infestation. Then conflict forced more than 435,000 Malian people from their homes, straining the already weak food supply. Next, cholera stuck the camps where many of the refugees sought shelter.

Months later when the rain finally came, half a year’s worth pounded down in just six hours, washing away seedlings that started to grow for fall harvest, destroying the little food people had left, their farms and their homes.

As the food and refugee crisis continues to unfold, 18 million people – almost half of whom are women and children – are at risk from hunger. There also nearly 1.5 million children under the age of five who live in the Sahel region and who are currently at risk of acute malnutrition.

An early response is critical to saving lives in the Sahel region of West Africa. Plan is on the ground working to help the most vulnerable people survive the food and refugee crisis but we need your help to reach as many children as possible.

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Plan’s Community-led Action for Children Project Wins Good Practice Award

Plan International and Plan Uganda’s Community-led Action for Children (CLAC) project took home an award at this year’s Commonwealth Education Good Practice Awards. The project was selected as second-runner up among ten finalists from 123 submissions. Plan Uganda’s Edison Nsubuga, Education Specialist, was present to accept the award.

The CLAC project demonstrates that Universal Primary Education can be realized through collaborative partnership between education players at family, community, district, and national levels. The project targets disadvantaged, excluded, and marginalized children from high poverty communities and provides holistic early childhood care and development support to children under eight-years-old.

Læs mere om det her.

Raise your hand for girls’ education!

October 11 will be the first Day of the Girl. Plan Canada’s Because I am a Girl initiative was a big part of having this day declared, in order to draw attention to obstacles girls face as they try to claim their rights.

So this year, we are using the Day of the Girl as a chance to talk about the importance of girls’ education. We’re working to educate 4 million girls through the Because I am a Girl initiative, but we need your help!

Around the world, a raised hand means “I want to participate!” Unfortunately, millions of girls around the world are not in classrooms, so they are unable to participate. We need you to raise YOUR hand if you believe every girl deserves an education, and tell the United Nations to put girls’ education at the top of the global agenda!

There are two easy ways you can do this!

• Raise your hand virtually on Facebook and share with your friends
• Or, if you don’t have Facebook, take a photo of yourself, your friends or your family with your hand raised in the air. Add your photo to our “Hands up for girls” Flickr page by emailing your photo tohandsup@becauseiamagirl.ca (photos must be in JPG file format only and file size should be less than 3MB).

IMAGINE: Improving girls' education in Niger

Haoua, married at 13, has never been to school. Rabi, 14, was taken out of classes to get married - but she dreams of becoming a doctor...

In Niger, 40% of girls get married before they are 15 years old and all too often they lose out on an education. 85% of Nigerien women cannot read or write.

In 2008 Plan Niger launched IMAGINE (Improve the EducAtion of Girls in NigEr) with the aim of getting more girls into schools and keeping them there.

Læs her hvad IMAGINE er i gang med og se en video om det her.

Syv unge Because I am a Girl bidragsydere: Jonathan

Jonathan – 11 år gammel.
6. klasse eleven, Jonathan, oprettede en fundraising gruppe på hans skole! Gruppen består af 16 drenge og 16 piger og deres mission er at hjælpe andre børn rundt omkring i verden. Jonathan siger at han støtter Because I am a Girl initiativet fordi, "Kampagnen hjælper andre mennesker der ikke har de samme privileger som os.” Han opfordrer andre drenge til at stå op for pigers rettigheder og at der ikke burde være nogen forskel mellem kønnene: “Se på alle de successfulde mennesker der enten er kvinder eller mænd, der havde kvinder til at hjælpe sig!"

Verdens bedste nyheder

80 udviklingsorganisationer, 75 danske virksomheder, kendte politikere og frivillige deler i dag æbler ud til danskerne, som symbol på, at kampen mod fattigdom bærer frugt. Eventen er en del af kampagnen Verdens Bedste Nyheder, som altså folder sig ud i hele landet i dag.

Det er tredje år i træk, at danske NGO'er i samarbejde med FN og Danida er gået sammen for at fortælle danskerne om de mange flotte resultater i verdens fattigste lande.
Plan Danmark er en del af kampagnen og vi glæder os over den positive udvikling, som mange u-lande oplever. Vi ser selv masser af gode nyheder i de lande, hvor Plan arbejder.

Embracing all students in Indonesia

When 14-year-old Labib passed the sixth grade, it was a truly momentous occasion in the Rembang District of Indonesia. Not only had he already failed once but he also has autism and struggles both to learn at the same pace as other students and to control what his teachers call “hysterical outbursts” at small things, like the sound of the bell of a horse-pulled cart.

Læs mere om Labib her!

Freida Pinto: Raise your hand now!

Simply click a button at raiseyourhandnow.com before October 11th if like actress Freida Pinto you believe every girl has the right to an education.

October 11th is the first ever UN recognised Day of the Girl and our chance to show the UN that girls must be a priority. But to get the UN to listen we need your support.

Please join us and raise your hand now!

Jeg var nummer 55.803 til at række hånden i vejret for Plan, Because I am a Girl, the Day of the Girl og alle mulige andre, hvilket nummer er du?

Tilbage til skolen: 5 måder at øge bevidstheden i klasseværelset

Det er den tid på året igen! Sommerferien er forbi og millioner af born rundt omkring i verden skal tilbage til skole. Et klasseværelse er et sted hvor nye lektioner bliver lært og nye perspektiver udvikles.

Det er det perfekte sted at øge bevidstheden om emner som fattigdom og pigers rettigheder - emner der påvirker børn i udviklingslande. Men nogle glabale problemer kan være svære at forklare og svære for børn at forstå.

Plan Canada er kommet op med nogle unikke måder at øge bevidstheden i klasseværelset.

1. Classroom sponsorship

2. Pick a cause

3. Essay competition

4. Diversity mural

5. Private screening

Læs mere om hvad de forskellige måder her.

Girls education camp brings hope for Ghana’s future

A lot of things happen at summer camp. Friendships are made, new skills are developed, and adventures are had. This is as true about a camp here as it is about a camp halfway around the world.

In Ghana this year, Plan organized a camp that did all these things and more. The camp, called “Girls’ Education – Our Hope for the Future” brought together 150 girls from around the country, for 5 days.

During these 5 days, the girls had the chance to learn about subjects they are not typically encouraged to explore, like working with computers and studying math. They also attended workshops about reproductive health, gender, and child rights issues.

Se en video derfra her hvor du kan møde nogle af pigerne og se hvad campen betød for dem!

En ny chance: Assamaou

Assamaou knows what it’s like to be poor and isolated. Married as a teenager with no education or job skills, she struggled to care for her child on a remote farm in rural Niger.

When she heard about Plan’s microfinance program, she jumped at the chance to take part.

When she joined a village savings and loans group, Assamaou received training in financial literacy and took out her first small loan to open a market stall to sell household items.

With the success of her small business, Assamaou began investing in other local businesses. Within a year she doubled her money and established herself as a wise business woman in her community.

“Before Plan, I had no income,” she said, “but today I am proud and have found the joy of living. I sincerely thank the people who created a project that helped me become an independent woman.”