Invest and Empower Girls for Our Future #PlanCanadaGirl

This year is like any other, a new school year has begun with new and old friends, Miss Priss and Squeakers have both been selected for volleyball teams, Squeakers has chosen to play the flute in band and they both have basketball try-outs on the horizon.

Each morning the girls wake before school, put on new school clothes, primp their hair, fill their bellies full of a nutritious breakfast and off they go with their lunch bag filled with more than enough food to get them through their day. My girls, Miss Priss and Squeakers, are lucky girls, girls who don’t have to worry about their next meal and nothing but opportunity put before them for the taking.

Unfortunately many girls do not have the same rights to the basic necessities of life or opportunities. . On October 11th, join me in empowering girls and investing in their futures on International Day of the Girl.

As parents we want the best for our children and we would do anything to provide for them,  ensure they never go hungry,  give them a world full of opportunity, encourage them to put their mind to something and achieve their goals.

Imagine a world where our daughters are not afforded the same rights as our boys, where girls  face discrimination because of their gender. As advocates for our daughters we cannot imagine that they wouldn’t be treated equally, but there are many daughters who do not have access to education, employment, protection from harm or a voice to decisions affecting their being.

Ponder This

• 1 in 7 girls in developing countries are married off before the age of 15 and over half have a child before the age of 18.
• Girls are 3 times more likely to be malnourished than boys.
• 66 million girls do not attend primary or secondary school in the poorest countries.
• 70% of the world’s 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty are female.

Imagine YOUR Daughter. What Can You Do?

Educate your kids, your family and friends; ask them what they would do if it was their daughter, sister, cousin, niece or granddaughter. Be an advocate for girls everywhere, no matter their race, their religion or geography, ALL girls deserve the same rights of equality.

For more information on the Girl Issue and  what you can do to help, go to  Plan Canada’s Because I am a Girl website. Give these innocent girls a voice and join me in being their advocate for future generations; start by spreading awareness about International Day of a Girl on October 11th.

Investing in Girls is Key to a Brighter Future for Everyone

• For every year a girl stays in secondary school her eventual wages are boosted 15-25%, earning an income she reinvests 90% into her own family, compared to the 30-40% among men.
•  For every girl who stays in school 7 years in a developing country she marries 4 years later and has 2.2 less children.
• Just by girls having access to technology, education, land, financial services and markets would mean 100-150 million less people go hungry worldwide.
• There is a 20% increase in child survival when the household income is in the mothers hands.

How do you invest and empower the girls in your life?