In 2013, a multi-country research effort was initiated to ensure that girls’ voices would guide the global development agenda. The goal was to create a platform for girls to voice their unique insights, opinions and ideas.
More than five hundred girls, ages 10–19, representing the poorest and most vulnerable of their communities, participated in consultation groups spread through fourteen countries. In the form of interactive workshops, these girls shared their greatest challenges and hopes, and informed the world’s decision makers what should be done differently. Their diverse voices have been summarised into ten themes, which are categorised into three overarching categories in this report: identity; environment; assets and opportunities.
Key findings:
- Of all topics raised, the girls discussed the importance of education most frequently and passionately. Girls spoke about education as a channel for accessing opportunities, although they still faced many obstacles to accessing and completing a quality education. They also discussed frustrations with the quality of their own education. Girls of all ages in every country expressed the desire for more education, explaining that it extends their childhoods, protects them from harm and gives them an opportunity to develop the skills and assets to be productive and empowered adults and citizens.
- There is an urgent need for legal and policy standards that are explicitly designed to respond to girls’ unique needs and vulnerabilities, while investing in campaigns and programmes to change harmful gender norms. Girls’ environments must be made safer, healthier and more supportive. Furthermore, girls have knowledge and ideas that can transform their environments, if they are provided with the space, support and resources to share and implement them.
- The Girl Declaration consolidates input from two parallel efforts: the Post-2015 Adolescent Girl Consultations, and a Technical Working Group composed of experts and advocates from a range of disciplines and institutions. The Girl Declaration—written with girls, for girls—prioritises adolescent girls’ voices and needs, and is intended to directly inform preparation of the post-2015 development agenda. The declaration includes guiding principles—along with recommended goals and measurable targets—to give decision-makers and global leaders critical input to help guide action and investment, in order to maximise impact on the lives of girls in poverty. The goals in the Girl Declaration include education, health, safety, economic security, and citizenship.
