250 MILLION ADOLESCENT GIRLS LIVE IN POVERTY. THEY ARE THE MOST POWERFUL FORCE FOR CHANGE ON THE PLANET.
Girls can play a crucial role in solving the most persistent development problems we face in the world today.
ABOUT THE GIRL EFFECT
The Girl Effect is a global movement. It's about the ... read moreunique potential of adolescent girls to end poverty for themselves and the world.
Insights show that when you take a holistic approach to improving a girl's life through education, health, safety and opportunity, these changes have a positive ripple effect. As an educated mother, an active, productive citizen and a prepared employee, she is the most influential force in her community to break the cycle of poverty.
An educated girl will reinvest 90 per cent of her future income in her family, compared with 35 per cent for a boy. And yet 250 million adolescent girls live in poverty and are more likely than boys to be uneducated, to be married at a young age, and to be exposed to HIV/AIDS. As long as girls remain invisible, the world misses out on a tremendous opportunity for change.
The Girl Effect was created by the Nike Foundation in collaboration with the NoVo Foundation, United Nations Foundation and Coalition for Adolescent Girls in 2008, accompanied by a film that caught the imagination of the world. Today, the Girl Effect is driven by hundreds of thousands of supporters who believe in the potential of 250 million adolescent girls living in poverty. Girleffect.org is managed by the Nike Foundation.
Girl Hub puts the girl effect into action. A strategic collaboration between the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and the Nike Foundation, Girl Hub brings together the expertise of both organisations to transform the lives of adolescent girls. Girl Hub currently works in Rwanda, Ethiopia and Nigeria to create programmes for girls, with girls. Girl Hub provides decision makers with the information they need to invest in girls, brings girls' voices to the table and collects data and evidence to show what works for girls. A review by DFID in 2014 found that Girl Hub is meeting - and in some areas exceeding - expectations for the partnership.
Since its inception in 2010, Girl Hub has also created two branded media platforms, Yegna in Ethiopia and Ni Nyampinga in Rwanda, that use positive role models to shift attitudes and behaviours towards girls. This innovative approach is yielding early results.
