News & features
Because I am a Girl report and website launch
Celebs Jennifer Heil, Tara Oram and girls
September 22, 2009 – Because I am a Girl is many things. It’s a website, a campaign, a report, and a statement with plight and power.
“Plight because the needs are horrendous and the abuse of rights of young girls around the world in absolutely unacceptable,” explains Rosemary McCarney, President and CEO of Plan Canada. “But power, because we think if we can mobilize one million Canadian girls on these social justice issues that afflict all girls, anywhere in the world, that force will be unstoppable.”
Plan Canada’s Because I am a Girl campaign kicked-off Tuesday at Berczy Park in Toronto. Local teen girls joined Olympic gold medalist Jennifer Heil and Canadian Idol finalist Tara Oram for the launch of www.becauseiamagirl.ca.
The website is home to a national campaign that aims to raise awareness in Canada about the importance of girls’ rights around the world. The campaign features mobile donations, a viral video, plus an up-and-coming documentary crew travelling from coast-to-coast talking to girls.
Plan’s third annual Because I Am A Girl report, “Girls and the Global Economy: Adding It All Up,” was also released. The report finds that countries with high levels of institutional discrimination against girls and women are also the least developed. "Girls and young women could be at the heart of an economic revolution,” says Plan Canada’s Sarah Hendriks, co-author of the report. “Failure to make that investment is a lost opportunity for developing nations and for the world, especially now as we look for ways to stabilize the global economy and build back from the current recession.”
The Because I am a Girl 2009 Report
Click here to read an executive summary of “Girls in the Global Economy: Adding It All Up.”
Click here to read the full report.
In The News
Highlights of Because I am a Girl media coverage:
YouTube: The launch of Because I am a Girl Canada
The Globe and Mail: Experts' call to action: Invest in women, reverse poverty
The Globe and Mail: Investing in girls pays off in social and economic progress by Belinda Stronach
CBC: Failing to educate girls costs poor countries billions
The Toronto Star: How can you save the world? Start with her.