A Journey to School: Maryuri's Story

Maryuri’s father was afraid that she would meet a boy at school, become pregnant, and drop out. Instead of discussing his fears with his daughter, he demanded that she drop out of school.


“My dad did not want me to go to school because several students age 13 and 14 had got married, fallen pregnant, and left school,” Maryuri says. “He believed I would do the same.”

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India’s tobacco girls

Five-year-old Aliya thinks it is some kind of game which she will soon have to master. From the time she wakes up until she goes to bed Aliya watches her mother and all the other girls and women in her neighbourhood engaged in a frantic race. They all make beedis – traditional hand-rolled Indian cigarettes.

To assemble each beedi, the roller painstakingly places tobacco inside a dried leaf from a local tree, tightly rolls and secures it with a thread, and then closes the tips using a sharp knife. For anything between 10 and 14 hours every day, Aliya’s mother and the others must each roll at least 1,000 beedis to earn less than $2 (about £1.30), paid by a middleman.

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A girl’s right to say no to marriage

“I thought he was my dad,” says Ramatou of her marriage, age 10, to a man she had never met. Ramatou is now preparing her 13-year-old daughter Mariama to be wed.

Plan’s new report, A girl’s right to say no to marriage, examines the global problem of child marriage and its devastating impact on the lives of children, particularly girls.

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A birthday to remember for Malala and girls around the world

July 12th will be one of those days you remember for the rest of your life.

Malala Yousafzai will address the public at the United Nations for the first time since being shot last year on her way to school by the Taliban in Pakistan. On the same day, Malala will celebrate her 16th birthday, a milestone millions of supporters dreamt she would reach.

Last October, Malala was shot by armed Taliban gunmen while she was on her way to school in Pakistan – targeted for her keen support for girls’ education. In amazement, the world watched as Malala recovered from the malicious attack.

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The girls of Hatibandha: See life through their eyes

When you're 13, you have your whole life ahead of you – school, university, your career, family and your friends. Life is full of potential and your future is vast. But when you're 13 and living in Hatibandha, Bangladesh life looks different, especially for girls.

Life isn't easy for girls living in Hatibandha. Located in northern Bangladesh, reaching secondary schools and health clinics is difficult. The walk can take hours and during monsoon season, the commute is only possible by boat.

As a result, the majority of girls will drop out of elementary school and marry while they're young. Lacking a basic education, these girls have little chance at becoming independent women and breaking the cycle of poverty in their families and community. 

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Ensuring girls' right to education in Cameroon

My name’s Hawou Adamou. I’m the president of the Hausa Women’s Association for Development (AFHADEV). After 38 years, I am going to share my story. It’s not extraordinary, thousands of other girls and women in Cameroon live similar lives in silence. I speak for them too.

I have lived my whole life in Briqueterie, an extremely poor district in the heart of Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. 90% of the people living her are Hausas (Muslims) from the northern most part of the country. Tradition is an important part of lives here.

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Off the balance sheet: the impact of the economic crisis on girls and young women

This report by Plan and ODI examines the continuing and deepening impact of the economic crisis on girls and young women worldwide.

Long standing economic trends, entrenched gender inequality and austerity budgets have all left girls and their families bearing the brunt of fewer resources and reduced access to services.

Key findings from the report include:

• Girls drop out of school more – with a 29% decrease in primary school completion for girls versus 22% for boys.
• Family poverty hits girls hardest - a 1% fall in GDP increases infant mortality by 7.4 deaths per 1,000 births for girls versus 1.5 for boys.
• Health cuts leave adolescent girls at greater risk during pregnancy with 14-19 year olds most at risk of death in pregnancy in many countries.

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Case study: 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.

The programme starts by talking to parents and working with religious and traditional leaders, communities, parents and teachers. This is followed by the building of classrooms, girls' toilets and housing for female teachers.

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Singer and Songwriter Kate Nash Joins Plan’s Because I am a Girl Initiative as Global Ambassador

Ms. Nash Teams Up with Plan to Improve the Lives of Millions of Girls Around the World

Kate Nash, internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter, and musician, is Plan’s newest Because I am a Girl Global Ambassador.

Girls in developing countries face overwhelming odds from the moment they are born – they are more likely to be malnourished, forced into early marriage, subjected to violence, trafficked, or sold. Often denied access to education and healthcare, girls languish behind their male counterparts.

But Kate Nash, through this exciting new partnership with Plan, wants to change all that. Kate knows that improving girls’ lives has a ripple effect – when a girl is educated, nourished, and protected, she shares her knowledge and skills with her family and community, and can forever change her own future and the future of her country.

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Plan India on the instances of growing sexual violence against girls and women

Plan India strongly condemns the recent instance of physical and sexual assault on a young girl and the severe beating of her male companion in a public transport bus in Delhi on the 16th of December, 2012. The young girl died on the 29^th of December,2012.  The violent and extremely brutal nature of the attack on the girl has left us all shocked, angry and concerned about the safety of our country’s girls and women. We also wish to express our deep concern at the growing instances of sexual violence that are being reported against children and women across the country.

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Education for Girls in Cambodia

Earlier this year UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon made the point that the opportunity to receive an edcuation is more often a right than a reality for "too many women and girls".

Twenty-year-old Len Leng was very nearly one of those who missed out on an education. Had she bowed to her demands of her impoverished parents, her education – like that of most Cambodian girls would have ended after primary school.

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Gordon Brown backs Plan's campaign for girls' education

Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is now United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, has backed Plan's campaign for girls' education. Following campaigning by thousands of Plan supporters there have been a series of political commitments and actions announced.

A global campaign was launched after 15-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban. Plan joined the campaign in support of Malala's stand for girls' education. And our 'Raise your hand' campaign calls for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to lead action by world leaders to make girls' education a priority. The Malala campaign achieved over two million signatures, doubling the original target. Over 560,000 people have supported our Raise your hand campaign so far.

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A Girl’s Right to Learn Without Fear: Ending gender-based violence in school

Today, Plan Canada launches a new report: A Girl’s Right to Learn Without Fear. In partnership with the University of Toronto’s International Human Rights Program, and in collaboration with the Canadian Women’s Foundation, Native Women’s Association of Canada, and White Ribbon Campaign, the report finds that gender-based violence is a critical factor threatening the education of girls in countries all over the world.

School-related gender-based violence refers to acts of sexual, physical or psychological violence inflicted on children in and around schools because of their sex or gender.

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The right to be heard - and to an education

On 9 October 2012, 14 year old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head because she is a girl and dared to defend every girl’s right to education. 10th December 2012 is Human Rights Day - its focus this year the right to be heard in public life and included in political decision-making. Malala paid a heavy price for trying to be heard. The attack on her sparked a wave of protests and condemnation across the world. The protests revealed a generation no longer willing to tolerate the gap between the promise of opportunity for all and reality.
 
For decades we have assumed the inevitability of the forward march of education, the inexorable year-on-year, continent-by-continent progress towards universal education. But if there is one reality that exposes our failure to deliver, it is that there are 61 million young children like Malala who will not go to school today or any other day. Written off at five and six years old, they will never come close to realizing their true potential.

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Malala - Because I am a Girl urgent action appeal

On 9 October, 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan was shot in the head because she is a girl and dared to defend every girls’ right to an education.

Malala’s story has awakened people everywhere to the fight to make education a reality for all girls - no matter where they are born.

On 10 November, Gordon Brown, the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, will meet Pakistan's President Zardari and deliver a petition calling for urgent action to support girls’ education.

Please add your voice right now - sign the petition on the UN Education Envoy website.

We need 1 million signatures. Please spread the word and share the link with all your friends.

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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.

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