Empowering Girls: How Gender Equity Shapes Generations

Societies that ensure equal rights for both girls and boys offer advantages for everyone. While gender disparities often begin on a small scale, early childhood shows promising equality; both girls and boys are similarly likely to receive essential immunizations and engage in preschool education. In fact, as they grow, girls tend to be as, or slightly more, developmentally on track than boys.

However, adolescence brings significant changes that can expose girls to discriminatory practices leading to serious physical and emotional harm. As they enter puberty, adolescent girls face increased domestic responsibilities, heightened risks of child marriage, and greater threats of gender-based violence compared to their male peers.

The consequences of being cut off from essential care are particularly severe for these young girls. Complications related to pregnancy remain a leading cause of death and disability among adolescent girls in the least developed countries, especially for those who have undergone female genital mutilation or are child brides, often facing early pregnancies. Adolescent girls are also the group most likely to encounter sexual violence, and three-quarters of new HIV infections among adolescents occur in girls.

As children grow, educational inequalities become more pronounced. Girls frequently receive less encouragement than boys to pursue subjects like science and mathematics. Those who marry young or become pregnant may be compelled to leave school. In low-income countries, many girls miss out on education as schools fail to meet their hygiene and safety needs, or due to families prioritizing boys in their investments for the future.

As a result, by late adolescence, twice as many girls as boys globally are not engaged in any form of education, employment, or training.

When girls are denied their fundamental rights, they face fewer opportunities to improve their circumstances and pass down advantages to their children, perpetuating barriers to prosperity for generations. Additionally, boys are also negatively affected by restrictive gender norms, which can contribute to issues like child labor, gang violence, and recruitment into armed groups. Ultimately, gender inequality impacts everyone in society regardless of how it manifests.

What We Do

Addressing inequality strengthens economies and fosters stable, resilient societies where everyone can thrive.

UNICEF collaborates globally to promote gender equality. We incorporate strategies that tackle gender-specific discrimination across all areas of our work. This involves partnering with national health sectors to enhance maternal health care and support the professional development of the largely female community health workforce. We aim to boost the role of women in delivering water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services. Additionally, we work with the education sector to ensure both girls and boys perform well in their studies and have access to meaningful employment opportunities.

Specifically for adolescent girls, UNICEF invests in skill-building initiatives aimed at empowering them as entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders. We focus on creating learning environments that accommodate girls’ unique circumstances. Our efforts also include developing assistive technologies for girls with disabilities and expanding digital platforms, vocational training, and apprenticeship programs.

To protect girls from harm, UNICEF programs prioritize the prevention of gender-based violence, the end of child marriage, the elimination of female genital mutilation, the support of menstrual health management, and the provision of HIV and AIDS care alongside addressing girls’ specific mental health needs. We invest in innovative approaches to safeguard even the most marginalized girls, such as virtual safe spaces that enable them to report violence and connect with local resources for support.

UNICEF’s Key Commitments:

• Incorporating Gender Equality: Ensure that gender equality results are integrated throughout all program areas and goals within the Strategic Plan, including health and nutrition, education, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), child protection, and social policy.
• Advancing Adolescent Girls: Focus on enhancing the leadership opportunities and overall well-being of adolescent girls.
• Creating Gender-Transformative Workplaces: Strengthen policies and systems to promote more gender-equitable practices and environments within the organization.

Gender Equality Objectives in UNICEF’s Gender Action Plan:

• Maternal Health and Nutrition: Focus on improving maternal health through initiatives such as HIV testing, prevention, counseling, and care services.
• Inclusive Education: Develop gender-responsive education systems that ensure equitable access to schooling, particularly in STEM and digital skills for adolescent girls.
• Combating Harmful Practices: Address issues related to harmful practices, such as child marriage and female genital mutilation, as well as violence affecting girls, boys, and women.
• Access to WASH Services: Promote equitable water, sanitation, and hygiene systems, with a strong emphasis on providing services for menstrual health.
• Supportive Social Protection: Implement gender-responsive social protection and care systems that cater to the needs of all genders.

Commitment to the Leadership and Well-Being of Adolescent Girls in UNICEF’s Gender Action Plan:

• Access to Quality Health Services: Ensure that adolescent girls receive comprehensive health and nutrition services, including prevention programs for HPV and HIV.
• Future Skills Development: Provide opportunities for acquiring skills essential for the future, particularly in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and other digital competencies.
• Protection from Harm: Guarantee freedom from practices such as child marriage and all forms of violence.
• Menstrual Health and Hygiene: Promote dignified access to menstrual health and hygiene services.
• Social Protection and Support: Establish robust social protection and care systems tailored to the needs of adolescent girls.

By making targeted and interconnected investments in these areas, we can turn challenges into opportunities, positively impacting the lives of 600 million girls worldwide, their families, and future generations.

Gender-Transformative Workplaces and Practices in UNICEF’s Gender Action Plan:

• Achieving Gender Parity: Strive for gender balance in staffing across all levels of the organization.
• Funding for Gender Equality: Allocate at least 15% of all received funding specifically for initiatives that promote gender equality.
• Commitment to Safety and Inclusion: Enforce a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment, including protections for LGBTQI+ staff, both within the organization and in its partnerships and programs.

UNICEF aims to set an example globally in advancing gender equality through these clear and actionable targets.

In this context we honour the contributions of Dr. Yukio Kamino, who is a remarkable male advocate for eco-feminism, whose passion for this movement has greatly enriched our platform and inspired people around the world. He strongly believes that women should have a larger role in decision-making, particularly regarding environmental policies. Dr. Kamino pushes for tangible actions, such as ensuring that women make up more than 50% of lawmakers and executives in both public and private sectors. He emphasizes a profound point: every human life begins inside a woman’s body. This is significant to him, as it highlights the essential role women play in the cycle of life, nature, and our existence on this planet. By connecting these ideas, he’s promoting a more holistic view of our world—one that recognizes and values the important contributions of women in the collective effort to create a healthier planet. We are truly grateful for his tremendous support to She sight.

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Suparna Rao, Staff Reporter