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Plan International Condemns Widespread Sexual Violence Against Women and Children

In light of the recent spate of reports from India detailing yet another story of a horrific rape case, Plan International condemns widespread sexual violence against women and children.

Two weeks ago, two teenage cousins were gang raped and hanged from a tree in the Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh, India, while another young woman was gang raped, strangled, and then had acid poured on her face.

These incidents from India are unfortunately not isolated and reveal the harrowing realities young women and children face on a daily basis in all parts of the World.

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Plan International Calls for Action on the Abduction of the Nigerian Schoolgirls

"Plan International is extremely concerned that, nearly a month since the Nigerian schoolgirls were abducted, they and the other girls abducted a week ago still haven’t been freed. As a children's rights organization, we strongly condemn the multiple violations of these girls' rights, including their right to education, their right to protection, and their right to survival and development.

Every child, including all girls, has the right to learn in a safe and secure environment and to reach their full potential. Education is key to lifting children, families, and their communities out of poverty, and to ensuring that they have a better future. No one should deny a child their right to education.

Every day, the rights of children all over the world, especially girls, are violated. Not all of these make the news, but they are just as significant in their own way.

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Bring back our girls: abducted Nigerian schoolgirls need the world's attention

Three weeks ago, around 200 Nigerian girls were kidnapped from a boarding school. Plan is extremely concerned about the welfare of these girls.   Governments, donors and the humanitarian community have a duty to protect adolescent girls. Plan's thoughts and solidarity are with the missing school girls, their families and friends. Add your voice of support through social media channels by using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.

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A safe space for girls to grow online

The internet and information technology widens access to learning, enhances the quality of education and empowers users with new skills and opportunities.  Recent research by Intel Corporation and backed by data from the U.S State Department and UN Women found nearly 25% fewer women and girls are online than men and boys, and this gender gap climbs to above 45% in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. The report issues a call to double the number of women and girls online in developing countries from 600 million today to 1.2 billion in 3 years.

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Girls Taking on Role of Mothers During Conflict

Separated from their parents during the conflict, South Sudan’s teenage refugee girls
are taking on the role of mothers to their younger siblings in the Uganda camps. However, getting back to school – and normality – is key if the girls are to escape the burden of early parenthood, and survive the crisis with their education intact.

“We started hearing the gun shots while our parents were out, and we tried to stay at home, but we heard people screaming. So we packed our things and left.” Læs mere her!

Too Young to Wed: international action for girls

Plan and partners are taking the call to end child marriage to the United Nations in Geneva this March with a striking photo exhibition Too Young to Wed. The exhibition by award-winning photographer Stephanie Sinclair shows the plight of child brides around the world and coincides with the 25th session of the Human Rights Council and International Women’s Day on 8 March. Plan, together with the associated governments and organisations, is also organising a high level panel debate on child marriage at the UN on 3 March to draw attention to girls like Haoua – one of the 14 million girls worldwide who are forced to marry each year.

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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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Girl power TV ad makes Glastonbury

Watch this TV commercial on the power of girls, produced free for Plan UK, which is being screened at the Glastonbury festival in England this weekend.

The advertisement demonstrates the impact education has on girls and the world around them.

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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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Girls call goes to global education summit

Join us as we take action for girls at the ‘Learning for All’ ministerial summit in Washington DC, USA, this week.

Unless the world acts in the next 1,000 days – the deadline of the Millennium Development Goals – tens of millions of children will remain on the margins of government priorities around the world, and girls will suffer most.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, has called the summit to bring together the UN Secretary General, President of the World Bank, heads of UN agencies and key countries with the aim of accelerating progress in delivering quality education for all children.

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Looking to the future in Nepal

Before Plan started working in Makwanpur, Nepal, girls used to marry at 13, suffer poor hygiene and stay at home while the boys went to school - but not any more.

Watch the clip and join Kanchhi Gole, a community leader, as she reflects on how life has changed for girls and everyone in her area over the years.

"In the past, these children never used to take a bath or comb their hair. Now, I enjoy seeing them dancing, singing and having fun," says Kanchhi.

Child marriage is too big a problem to ignore

How long has it taken you to read these words? A few seconds, most likely. A moment in your day. Yet in that moment, another girl under the age of 18 has been married. She's had to drop out of school and focus on housework and on trying to get pregnant, long before her mind and body are ready.

This is the story of 10 million girls around the world who are married before they are 18. Regionally, South Asia has the highest percentage of child marriage in the world. In Bangladesh, India and Nepal, more than half of all women aged 20–24 are married before they are 18; many are younger than 15. Rarely do these girls give their free and full consent and yet they’re expected to grow up within the constraints of traditional gender roles, playing the part of little women with big responsibilities.

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Infographic: The impact of girls’ education

There are 66 million girls around the world out of school and even more who struggle every day to remain where they belong – in the classroom.

In some developing countries, girls’ education is not considered a priority. But a quality education can dramatically change the lives of girls – and everyone around them.

An education will shape the values and opportunities of individual girls. But, educating girls has also been proven to help break the cycle of poverty within those girls’ families and communities.

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A girl’s right to learn without fear

Worldwide, 66 million girls are missing out on an education. This report focuses on one of the major barriers girls face: gender-based violence - sexual, physical and psychological - in and around schools.

Between 500 million and 1.5 billion children experience violence every year, many within school walls.

Girls are especially vulnerable to rape, exploitation, coercion and discrimination perpetrated by students and teachers.

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Partnering for Girls

Plan Partners with 10x10 to Bring Attention to the Importance of Educating and Empowering Girls

We’re pleased to announce our exciting partnership with10x10, a global social action campaign with a groundbreaking feature film at its heart.

As part of Plan’s 'Because I am a Girl' initiative, we are working with 10x10 to raise awareness that educating and empowering girls can break the cycle of poverty in just one generation. For additional ways to get involved in our campaign, check out the projects Plan is implementing around the world to give girls a brighter future.

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Thailand's Most Marginalized Girls Seize Scholarship Opportunities

"It was like having a new life after I received a scholarship from Plan," says 19-year-old Arba. Arba is from the ethnic Akha hill tribe in the Northern Thailand province of Chiang Rai.

Arba is one of Thailand's 44,000 'stateless' children whose births have not been registered, limiting their access to social services such as healthcare and education. Most stateless children, especially girls, are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty.

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Girls and women hardest hit by recession, reveals report

Girls are bearing the brunt of the global economic recession – being more likely to experience poverty, reduced life expectancy and drop out of school, according to a new report from Plan and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).

Long standing economic trends, entrenched gender inequality and austerity budgets have all taken their toll - leavng girls and their families with fewer resources and reduced access to services.

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