There are 250 million adolescent girls living in poverty today, and we believe they are the most powerful force for change on the planet. When we include girls in education, health and economic investments, we give them choice and opportunity: choice over when they marry and start having children and opportunity to realize their full economic and social potential.
Investing in a girl — before she is married, out of school, pregnant and HIV positive — is the ultimate solution to end poverty, not a cure for its symptoms. But girls can’t do it alone. They need the world to recognize them, listen to them and invest in their potential.
Girls are a smart investment to accelerate change. This isn’t a social issue; it’s smart economics. According to a 2012 report released by the World Bank:
– India loses $383 billion in potential lifetime income due to 4 million adolescent girls who become mothers each year.
– If girls in Kenya completed high school, the economy would gain $27 billion over their lifetime.
– In Nigeria, if women had the same employment rate as young men, the country would add $13.9 billion to its economy annually.
– And these are just the possibilities in three countries. Multiply this by 250 million individuals and you get the most powerful force for positive change on the planet.
The girl effect is a movement. It’s about making girls visible and changing their social and economic dynamics by providing them with specific, powerful and relevant resources.
Created by the Nike Foundation in collaboration with the NoVo Foundation, United Nations Foundation and Coalition for Adolescent Girls, the girl effect leverages the unique potential of adolescent girls and provides them with resources to end poverty for themselves, their families, their communities, their countries and the world.
Learn more at girleffect.org
