Giving Girls Value = A Better Future

Take a moment and imagine a 12-year-old girl…

Now your image may look something like this… a young girl walking or taking the bus safely to school, having a lunch packed for her before she leaves the house, sitting in her grade 7 classroom – where there is no thought that she won’t go on to grade 8 and graduate elementary school, going out for recess – putting on her outdoor shoes (because she has two pairs), having access to a bathroom with proper plumbing, going home and playing outside with her friends, and being called in for dinner where she will sit with her family and have enough food on the table to ask for seconds if she wishes.

If this is what you imagined when you thought of a 12-year-old girl, you just forgot about the 50 million 12-year-old girls who are currently living in poverty around the world today.    

Watch the following video:

I’d like you to take a moment to gather your opinions, ideas, thoughts, and feelings before continuing to read... Now this video may have been very impactful for you or you may just have seen it as another sad story of the world. But whatever you feelings, be aware of your initial reactions and begin to explore what this means for you, your family, your friends, your future children and the generations to follow.

Before having seen this video, my image of a 12-year-old girl would have been very similar to the one mentioned above. This is not because I have not educated myself about the issues around the world, but because I have not felt as though I have been directly impacted by the factors that have been mentioned in the video.  However, after having seen this video in one of my SMF classes and then engaging in a ‘heated’ discussion afterword, I have since come to realize that even the smallest connection of being the same gender as these girls is enough to begin seeing the impact these issues have on me and the rest of the girls and women around the world.

There are many steps that we need to be taken in order to regain some solidarity around the world concerning girls and women. But the major issue that needs to be addressed before any change can occur is that of the issue of value – the value of women most importantly. This, in my opinion, is what is making it most difficult for the girls and women of the developing world to move forward. The fact that girls are being undervalued, devalued, and not valued as a result of their gender is absolutely asinine. And the word asinine doesn’t even skim the surface of the real feelings people – including myself – have and should have concerning this issue of girls and their futures. It is obscene that there are places that exist, where girls - due to their gender - are not given birth certificates, ID cards or even registered at childbirth. It is through these exact practices in developing countries that this concept of human value has been stripped from girls before they are even of the age to speak for themselves.

Another important aspect of these issues concerning girls in developing countries is that of equality. We live in a world that prides itself on using terms such as equality of the sexes, equal rights and equal opportunity. But what do these terms mean if the reality is not that they lead to meeting human basic needs; needs such as equal access to education and equal access to healthcare… These are two things that EVERY child should have access to, no matter their gender or socioeconomic status. Girl or boy, rich or poor, Education and Healthcare should be seen as basic human rights for all!

Something I have yet to come to understand is how countries have allowed for their to be a divide between girls and boys and their having access to these essential resources. It is situations such as these that discredit the 'progress' we have made in relation to equality and what this term is supposed to stand for. In my eyes it is not enough to say that we are heading toward equality if there are 600 million girls living in the developing world and 1/4 of them do not have access to an education, and the leading cause of death for girls between age 15-19 is complications from pregnancy (GirlEffect.org) - and these numbers only include girls that are known to be living in poverty and does not include the vast number of girls who are unaccounted for all throughout the developing world.

This is not okay. It is not okay to say that because these girls live oceans away that what happens to them is not our issue, it is not okay to ignore what occurs in developing countries because we have the rights we do in Canada, it is not okay to finish reading this blog and not have it affect you in any way, and IT IS NOT OKAY TO STEP BACK AND WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.....  

It is evident that something needs to be done in order to help the millions of girls in the developing world have a healthy, successful future that they choose for themselves. And as Canadians and citizens of a developed country, we have the resources and knowledge to begin this change! So do some research and begin to get involved with a cause that promotes ` equality and views girls and women as valuable!  

It is through the Girl Effect that people are working hard to make sure girls are not only heard but are seen as well. We need to make sure that countries know that girls exist, by making sure they are being registered at birth and receiving birth certificates. Giving these girls value through the recognition that they exist in the world will be the stepping-stone for leading them in the direction of endless possibilities. Without this recognition, young girls will continue to fall through the cracks that living in poverty creates. So we need to start here! We need to make sure that girls are not married by the age of 14, are not having babies by age 15, and not contracting HIV by 18 years-old and having to sell their bodies to support their families... this is not the life you would want for your daughter, your sister, your niece, your granddaughter, or any other 12-year-old girl you know... so why should it be acceptable in any other country?

It has been through this blog and my own realizations while exploring these issues, that I have come to realize the importance of bringing these issues to the forefront. From this point on I will continue - and hope others will continue as well - to take responsibility for what we are not doing to help better the lives of young girls around the world.

For more information on the Girl Effect and other initiatives related to these issues, visit:

The Girl Effect

http://www.girleffect.org/

Girl Up – United Nations Foundation

http://www.girlup.org/