No country has achieved complete equality for all. Girls and women in every corner of the world continue to face injustices, simply because of their gender. So, what makes this year and the years to come any different? We’re armed with 17 Global Goals to change the world. We have a chance to make history – there has never been a greater global commitment to equal rights than right now. And it’s about time!

The time for change is now

These 17 Global Goals, a.k.a. the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aim to achieve three big things by 2030: end extreme poverty, combat environmental changes and fight injustices and inequalities. With 193 countries committed to the SDGs, the world is ready to create lasting, real change! Goal 5 is specifically targeted at achieving equality between girls and boys and empowering all women and girls. Having a standalone goal to end inequality is the first united global effort to eliminate practices and traditions such as child marriage, female genital mutilation and violence targeting women and girls while also challenging the mindsets that fuel discrimination. But tackling the inequalities that girls and women face doesn’t end with that one goal. The other 16 goals can’t be achieved without empowering everyone – girls, boys, men and women – to reach their full potential.

Ending poverty

Ending extreme poverty (measured as living on less than $1.25 USD a day) is possible. The rates of extreme poverty have already been reduced by half since 1990, and ensuring women have equal rights to education, land, economic and financial opportunities can help lift even more people, families and communities out of poverty. After all, for every extra year a girl stays in school, her income can increase by 10 to 20%! 

 20-year-old Ana’s one of over 3,000 women in Bolivia who received agricultural training with Plan International’s support. Now, her thriving farm benefits her family and community.

 

Zero hunger

Every year 3 million children die from malnutrition. And girls are 2x as likely to suffer from malnutrition as boys. As a result of outdated beliefs that value sons over daughters, girls in developing countries are often the last to eat – which can even mean eating nothing at all. Challenging these norms, and bringing girls and women to the table (literally and figuratively) with opportunities to become food producers, like farmers and fishers, will mean fewer people go hungry, and a more sustainable food system. 

 Plan International’s school feeding project in Cambodia is keeping 13-year-old Sokhat well fed AND in school!

 

Ensure healthy lives

While global rates of child and maternal mortality have slowly been decreasing, approximately 800 women still die every day as a result of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, and 99% of these deaths are in low-income countries. Making health care accessible, providing family planning services, educating young girls on essential health issues that affect them, sharing health information with women, and engaging men in maternal, newborn and child health are all critical ways to curb this trend and save lives.

 With a strong commitment to improving maternal, newborn and child health in developing countries around the world, Plan International is determined to help mothers and children survive and thrive.

 

Education for all

Education is every child’s right. And yet, more than 62 million girls are missing from classrooms around the world. Pervasive gender inequalities create barriers that prevent girls from achieving the education they deserve. From child marriage, to violence at school, to the lack of separate toilets, taking action to break down these challenges can ensure millions of girls not only go, but stay, in school! 

 7-year-old Jenny is where she belongs – in school!

Economic growth

Right now, unequal distribution of resources and responsibilities is keeping women around the world from contributing to their communities and economies in the fullest and most productive ways. By improving equal access to land ownership and to safe and decent work, as well as diminishing the imbalances in power relations and pay, economies can benefit from the skills, talents and potential of women.

 These women launched their own peanut butter business in Zimbabwe with Plan International’s help, gaining economic empowerment to support their families and community!

 

Peaceful and just communities

Girls’ and women’s rights are human rights. Globally, it’s estimated that one in three women will experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime, making it one of the most widespread violations of human rights. Upholding girls’ and women’s right to safety and protection means reducing all forms of physical and emotional violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking and other abuses. A just world for everyone is violence-free.

Violence targeting women and girls is unfortunately an issue everywhere. Creating a just world for all means protecting girls’ and women’s right to safety and protection. Unequal distribution of opportunities – including access to education, health care and protection from violence – leaves half the population behind. Moving forward and fueling the success of every goal means changing the world for girls and women, together.

Our goals, our future

The Global Goals are OUR goals – these goals impact each and every single one of us. We all have a role to play to change the world for the better. By raising awareness about these goals and holding our governments accountable, we really can make a difference. Learn more.