When women and girls are empowered and given equal opportunities to men, communities can prosper with economic gains, peace and stability. There are many examples of women who have played a great role in their nations’ economic development, advancing peace and sustainability. But there are still many — such as in countries Children Believe works — facing gender inequality, which makes it difficult to thrive.
“There are many factors underlying gender disparities, but they are often rooted in restrictive government policies and patriarchal cultural norms,” notes Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Algene Sajery of the Liberia-based Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development in an opinion piece in Thomson Reuters Foundation News. These factors make it challenging for girls to stay in school and gives women less opportunities to become leaders.
The UN has made efforts to eliminate gender inequality by making it one of the sustainable development goals, but much more needs to be done. At Children Believe, we support children, especially girls, in gaining equal opportunity to be leaders in their community through knowledge and skills-building, leadership training, awareness campaigns as well as youth and children groups.
Give girls opportunities by giving them the gift of an education today.