Sections

Count girls

This is the largest youth generation in history! There are more than 1.2 billion adolescents ages 10 to 19 in the world today, and half of these are adolescent girls.

We know that girls can make a difference. Adolescent girls have tremendous potential to be strong and, bright leaders, sports stars, prime ministers — you name it.

But girls in developing countries face a number of challenges that can make it difficult to fulfill their aspirations:

Investing in girls is not only the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do. Studies show that women and girls reinvest 90 percent of their income in their families and communities, compared to only 30-40 percent for men.

DID YOU KNOW?

• In some cases, 80-90 percent of youth program participants are boys.
• Less than two cents of every development dollar goes to programs specifically for girls.