Because I am a girl

Around the world, girls face double discrimination because of their gender and age. Although they may share the same rights as boys, too often girls suffer at the bottom of society held back by additional hardships and barriers.

Compared to their brothers:

• Girls are less well-nourished
• Girls have less chance at an education
• Girls face more daily violence.

Empowering girls is an effective tool for fighting poverty, increasing education and ending violence - it's a catalyst for overall global development.

In Canada:

• Girls will grow up to earn less than the boys they went to school with
• Girls will face more sexual and daily violence
• Girls will bear the brunt of domestic work.

Governments are failing girls on a massive scale.

World leaders set millennium targets for combating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women. Plan's 2007 Because I am a Girl report revealed that these goals are unlikely to be met. Girls will continue to suffer today and in the years to come unless world leaders take urgent action now. That's why we've launched the Because I am a Girl campaign.

Join a global movement to secure a brighter and safer future for girls around the world.

Whether in Canada or the Global South, girls have a right to development, participation and protection. States have a duty to respect and fulfill those rights. Together we can tell the world's leaders that girls' empowerment is the key to a better future for us all and it's time to take action.

This Year's Focus - Girls in Conflict

Every year our campaign focuses on one area of girls' lives that needs urgent attention. This year's report, 'In the Shadow of War', explores the lives of girls and young women growing up in war and conflict.

There are 200 million girls living in conflict-affected countries such as Somalia, Sri Lanka and Colombia. Their experience of conflict often includes loss of childhood, displacement, sexual violence and missing out on school.

Education can give a girl or young woman the chance to gain the skills and confidence to better her life, and the lives of her children. In times of conflict, it is crucial that she does not lose that chance.

• Sign our petition: Call on the Canadian Government to live up to its international reputation as a global leader on gender equality by supporting the world's girls.


• Read the reports

• More ways to get involved