Amidst the hustle and bustle to welcome the Dragon into our lives this festive season, we are prone to sideline people who are very much less fortunate than we are. Venusbuzz feels it is important to reach out to those people and to highlight their plight. Here we highlight an effort 2 years in the making to change the life of a very significant individual.
The Girl
- More than 600 million of them live in the developing world.
- More than one-quarter of the population in Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa are girls and young women ages 10 to 24.
- The total global population of girls ages 10 to 24 — already the largest in history — is expected to peak in the next decade.
- One girl in seven in developing countries marries before age 15.
- 38 percent marry before age 18
- One-quarter to one-half of girls in developing countries become mothers before age 18; 14 million girls aged 15 to 19 give birth in developing countries each year.
- In Nicaragua, 45 percent of girls with no schooling are married before age 18 versus only 16 percent of their educated counterparts. In Mozambique, the figures are 60 percent versus 10; in Senegal, 41 percent versus 6.
- A survey in India found that girls who married before age 18 were twice as likely to report being beaten, slapped, or threatened by their husbands as were girls who married later.
The Girl Effect
- When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children.
- An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10 to 20 percent. An extra year of secondary school: 15 to 25 percent.
- Research in developing countries has shown a consistent relationship between better infant and child health and higher levels of schooling among mothers.
- When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40 percent for a man.
Are You In?
For more information on this initiative, visit girleffect.org.
Dear Venusians, we have a problem. Let’s do this together. http://t.co/8EcneeUG