[Above: a beautiful, compelling, arresting video “The Girl Effect.” Not a word is spoken, but it speaks volumes.]
I believe that empowering marginalized women and girls will unleash the greatest good the world has ever seen.
I believe that women and girls represent the greatest hope for the future of humanity.
And, I believe that our generation — this one, right here — has all of the tools we need to lift women up and move humanity forward in quantum leaps.
Consider these statistics:
- Of the world’s 1.3 billion poor people, it is estimated that nearly 70% are women.
- Between 75 and 80% of the world’s 27 million refugees are women and children.
- Of the 185 highest-ranking diplomats to the United Nations, seven are women.
- Of the world’s nearly one billion illiterate adults, two-thirds are women.
- Two-thirds of the 130 million children worldwide who are not in school are girls.
- An estimated 20 million unsafe abortions are performed worldwide every year, resulting in the deaths of 70,000 women.
- Approximately 585,000 women die every year, over 1,600 every day, from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. In sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 13 women will die from pregnancy or childbirth related causes, compared to 1 in 3,300 women in the United States.
- Worldwide, 20 to 50 per cent of women experience some degree of domestic violence during marriage.
- The primary victims of today’s wars are civilian women and their children, not soldiers.
- The use of rape as a weapon of war has become more evident. In Rwanda from April 1994 to April 1995, estimates of the number of women and girls raped range from 15,700 to over 250,000.
Ok, that’s the bad news. Here’s the good news…the really good news: we can do this. If “she has the power to change her world, we have the power to help her do it.” We can unleash the greatest natural resource in this world — the power of women — if we each do our part.
Taking action is easier than you think.
To learn more, please visit CARE.
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