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The Girl Effect

MysticSang'ha

Big Squishy Hugger
Premium Member
Anybody else hear about this movement founded by Warren Buffett and co-sponsored by the Nike Foundation with Buffett's NoVo Foundation? It's called The Girl Effect. It is a movement specifically geared toward ending poverty and violence against adolescent girls worldwide by giving them access to health care, education, and microloans to start their own businesses.

The videos are inspiring, to say the least, and the movement specifies that when the world creates avenues for health and education and entrepreneurship for girls and young women, her entire family and community benefits as a result.

I thought this one was the best, IMO:
[youtube]-Vq2mfF8puE[/youtube]
YouTube - I Dare You

Thoughts?
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
This is rampant sexism. The Girl Effect addresses the problem of teenage girl pregnancies in the developing world, but not teenage boy pregnancies. I am appalled by the sexism of this program!
 

Wirey

Fartist
This is rampant sexism. The Girl Effect addresses the problem of teenage girl pregnancies in the developing world, but not teenage boy pregnancies. I am appalled by the sexism of this program!

I, on the other hand, am appalled by the continued employment of your high school biology teacher. :D
 

Tarheeler

Argumentative Curmudgeon
Premium Member
I love the idea, and I hope they can do a good job in implementing it.

Many studies have show than increasing the education of women has the ability to dramatically change not only their lives, but their entire communities.
 

MysticSang'ha

Big Squishy Hugger
Premium Member
From the website:

1) Let's see some ID - Without a birth certificate or an ID, a girl in the developing world doesn't know and can't prove her age, protect herself from child marriage, open a bank account, vote, or eventually get a job. That makes it hard to save the world.

2) Illiteracy does not look good on a resume - 70% of the world's out-of-school children are girls. Girls deserve better. They deserve quality education and the safe environments and support that allow them to get to school on time and stay there through adolescence.

3) ...And pregnancy does not look good on a little girl - Child marriages are the norm in many cultures where women's bodies aren't considered their own property. Pregnancy is the leading cause of death for girls 15-18 years old. Girls have a right to be able to protect their health & their bodies.

4) The face of HIV is increasingly young and female - When girls are educated about HIV, they stand a better chance of protecting themselves. But education is not enough. Girls need to be empowered and supported to make their own choices.

5) A nice place to work would be nice - If girls have the skills for safe and decent work, if they understand their rights, if they are financially literate and considered for non-traditional jobs at an appropriate age, if they get their fair share of training and internships, they will be armed and ready for economic independence.

6) The check is in the mail but it's going to your brother - Less than two cents of every international aid dollar is directed to girls. And yet when a girl has resources, she will reinvest them in her community at a much higher rate than a boy would. If the goal is health, wealth, and stability for all, a girl is the best investment.

7) Adolescent girls aren't just "future women" - They're girls. They deserve their own category. They need to be a distinct group when we talk about aid, education, sports, civic participation, health and economics. Yes, they are future mothers. But they actually live in the present.

8) Laws were made to be enforced - Girls need advocates to write, speak up, lobby, and work to enforce good laws and change discriminatory policies.

9) She should be a statistic - We won't know how to help girls until we know what's going on with them. Hey, all you governments and NGOs and social scientists: you're accountable! We need an annual girl report card for every country so we can keep track of which girls are thriving and which girls are not.

10) Everyone gets on board or we're all overboard - Boys, girls, moms, dads. If we don't all rally to support girls, nothing is going to change. Not for them, and not for us. Change starts with you. So get going.

-----------------------------

I really support this organization and it's message. Too often, girls around the world go unnoticed for what they live through, and when we invest in girls in Third World countries, I think we can create an amazing world for us to live in.

EDIT TO ADD: From this list of ten points, I am personally moved most by #7.
 
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Trey of Diamonds

Well-Known Member
I like the video, I like the concept, I hope it gets lots of support. The biggest challenge will be everyone surrounding the girl in question. Cultures that do not value a female child will simply redirect the money sent to her. Just like most money and aid sent to refugees ends up with politicians and warlords instead. Providing help for girls in cultures that don't value them can help a few individuals but it will not change the culture itself.
 

beenie

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
From the website:

1) Let's see some ID - Without a birth certificate or an ID, a girl in the developing world doesn't know and can't prove her age, protect herself from child marriage, open a bank account, vote, or eventually get a job. That makes it hard to save the world.

2) Illiteracy does not look good on a resume - 70% of the world's out-of-school children are girls. Girls deserve better. They deserve quality education and the safe environments and support that allow them to get to school on time and stay there through adolescence.

3) ...And pregnancy does not look good on a little girl - Child marriages are the norm in many cultures where women's bodies aren't considered their own property. Pregnancy is the leading cause of death for girls 15-18 years old. Girls have a right to be able to protect their health & their bodies.

4) The face of HIV is increasingly young and female - When girls are educated about HIV, they stand a better chance of protecting themselves. But education is not enough. Girls need to be empowered and supported to make their own choices.

5) A nice place to work would be nice - If girls have the skills for safe and decent work, if they understand their rights, if they are financially literate and considered for non-traditional jobs at an appropriate age, if they get their fair share of training and internships, they will be armed and ready for economic independence.

6) The check is in the mail but it's going to your brother - Less than two cents of every international aid dollar is directed to girls. And yet when a girl has resources, she will reinvest them in her community at a much higher rate than a boy would. If the goal is health, wealth, and stability for all, a girl is the best investment.

7) Adolescent girls aren't just "future women" - They're girls. They deserve their own category. They need to be a distinct group when we talk about aid, education, sports, civic participation, health and economics. Yes, they are future mothers. But they actually live in the present.

8) Laws were made to be enforced - Girls need advocates to write, speak up, lobby, and work to enforce good laws and change discriminatory policies.

9) She should be a statistic - We won't know how to help girls until we know what's going on with them. Hey, all you governments and NGOs and social scientists: you're accountable! We need an annual girl report card for every country so we can keep track of which girls are thriving and which girls are not.

10) Everyone gets on board or we're all overboard - Boys, girls, moms, dads. If we don't all rally to support girls, nothing is going to change. Not for them, and not for us. Change starts with you. So get going.

-----------------------------

I really support this organization and it's message. Too often, girls around the world go unnoticed for what they live through, and when we invest in girls in Third World countries, I think we can create an amazing world for us to live in.

EDIT TO ADD: From this list of ten points, I am personally moved most by #7.

I'll have to watch the video, but I have to say that #7 brought tears to my eyes. We are so busy preparing for their future that we forget they need us TODAY. Being a girl and being allowed to behave like a girl is what makes them grow into young women. Robbing them of their girlhood by categorizing them as future women is the hugest disservice we can do to them. I'm so glad we are starting to recognize that and hopefully change it.
 

MysticSang'ha

Big Squishy Hugger
Premium Member
I like the video, I like the concept, I hope it gets lots of support. The biggest challenge will be everyone surrounding the girl in question. Cultures that do not value a female child will simply redirect the money sent to her. Just like most money and aid sent to refugees ends up with politicians and warlords instead. Providing help for girls in cultures that don't value them can help a few individuals but it will not change the culture itself.

This is exactly what the organization and the movement addresses and why it was created. I advocate it, and I've been thinking seriously how my business can best advocate for it and for the millions of girls this can help, too.
 

MysticSang'ha

Big Squishy Hugger
Premium Member
I'll have to watch the video, but I have to say that #7 brought tears to my eyes. We are so busy preparing for their future that we forget they need us TODAY. Being a girl and being allowed to behave like a girl is what makes them grow into young women. Robbing them of their girlhood by categorizing them as future women is the hugest disservice we can do to them. I'm so glad we are starting to recognize that and hopefully change it.

It is, Shireen.

Child brides are a travesty. Girls deserve their adolescence for the time to be educated, to receive proper health care, and to be independent workers. They do much better when they are financially literate, and can escape the trap of early motherhood burdened with higher risks of HIV so she can raise her children and keep them as safe as she can. The way the world turns a blind eye to how often teen mothers around 14-15 years old are trafficked for sexual predators is terrible.

I know you're a mom of daughters, and I wonder how you feel too, but I can't help but look at my own teenaged daughter and feel more adamant about advocating for the girls of the world. :)
 

Cassiopia

Sugar and Spice
BUMP!
Anybody else hear about this movement founded by Warren Buffett and co-sponsored by the Nike Foundation with Buffett's NoVo Foundation? It's called The Girl Effect. It is a movement specifically geared toward ending poverty and violence against adolescent girls worldwide by giving them access to health care, education, and microloans to start their own businesses.

The videos are inspiring, to say the least, and the movement specifies that when the world creates avenues for health and education and entrepreneurship for girls and young women, her entire family and community benefits as a result.

I thought this one was the best, IMO:
[youtube]-Vq2mfF8puE[/youtube]
YouTube - I Dare You

Thoughts?
An excellent project. I hope it is successful.
 

Trey of Diamonds

Well-Known Member
This is exactly what the organization and the movement addresses and why it was created. I advocate it, and I've been thinking seriously how my business can best advocate for it and for the millions of girls this can help, too.

Excellent. Best of luck and keep us posted on the progress. Thanks for sharing.
 
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