Governor-General launches Because I Am A Girl report

Governor-General Quentin Bryce launches the 2009 Because I Am A Girl report

• New report from Plan International says better investment in girls key to ending poverty
• Her Excellency praises the report’s findings and calls for more to be done for the world’s girls
• Global financial crisis puts millions of girls at risk of falling deeper into poverty

Australian Governor-General , Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC, yesterday officially launched a new report that examines the impact of the global financial crisis on the world’s most vulnerable girls.

Plan International’s new report says the global downturn is threatening to plunge millions of girls further into poverty. However, the report also argues that proper investment in their development would help them lift their communities out of poverty and build a foundation for global prosperity.

Because I am a Girl: The State of the World’s Girls 2009 – the most comprehensive report ever published on girls' economic empowerment – was launched by Her Excellency at a function at Government House attended by Federal MPs and senators, representatives from AusAID and ACFID, and members of development NGOs and youth organisations.

Along with Her Excellency’s message, the Federal Minister for Housing and the Status of Women, the Honorable Tanya Plibersek MP, the Acting Director General of AusAID Peter Baxter, and Plan International in Australia Board Chairperson Anne Skipper made speeches in support of the new report.

Read the Governor-General's speech.

Read Mr Peter Baxter's speech.

Read the Honorable Tanya Plibersek's speech.

In launching the report, the Governor-General praised Plan’s efforts to draw attention to the plight and potential of the world’s girls.

“Because I am a Girl is an invaluable gauge and guide for the progress of the girl child. It marks an alarming disparity, and calls us to action. The 2009 report has a particular focus on the context of the global financial crisis, which is threatening to plunge millions of girls further into poverty,” she said.

“It tells us that more girl babies will die before their first birthday; women in the informal and export sectors are losing their jobs; and girls are being pulled out of education - their long-term futures sacrificed to desperate short-term need.”

Her Excellency said the report’s findings were all the more powerful after her visit to Africa earlier this year.

“At the Kibasila primary school in Tanzania, we saw first-hand what a difference Plan is making: in water harvesting infrastructure, classrooms and a library, as well as meeting two little students, Emmanuel and Itau, who are sponsored through Plan by Australian families.

“I am so impressed by Plan’s leadership in the ‘girl child’ movement, your thoughtful, strategic and humanitarian response, your foresight and insight in calling on the world to invest in girls,” she said.

Minister Plibersek said Australia’s experience of fighting for gender equality emphasised the report’s findings, and the urgent need to respond.

“Just as progress towards gender equality in Australia has led to greater economic and social participation and positive economic outcomes, improving the lot of girls throughout the world will reap rewards,” she said.

“A central message of Girls in the Global Economy: Adding It All Up is that a lack of investment in girls is an opportunity missed. Spending resources on girls is enlightened self‐interest – it is a sensible, practical and smart investment. We must treat this with the urgency it deserves.”

Acting AusAID Director General Peter Baxter also praised Plan’s efforts to highlight the issues girls face.

“Plan International’s report on the State of the World’s Girls in 2009 is a strong and timely contribution to increasing international recognition of the importance of investing in girls,” Mr Baxter said. “The report confirms that investing in girls has a powerful effect on lifting families and communities out of poverty.

“Plan’s Call to Action is an opportunity for us all – for government, non-government and UN agencies alike, to help realise the rights of the 500 million adolescent girls and young women living in developing countries whose potential remains largely untapped.”

“It is now time to translate this understanding into real action to unleash the potential of girls in the developing world.”

To view a copy of the report and find out more about the campaign, go to www.becauseiamagirl.com.au

ENDS

Contact

David Cook (Media Officer)
Plan International in Australia
Mobile: 0448 816 900
Work: 03 9672 3652
Email: david.cook@plan.org.au

Notes to Editors

1. ‘Because I am Girl: The State of the World’s Girls’ is the third in a series of nine annual, global reports on girl’s rights and the experiences of girls growing up in the world’s poorest communities.
2. The report was produced with guidance from human rights experts at Unicef and UNIFEM; economists from the World Bank, the UK Government’s Department for International Development (Difid) and Standard Chartered Bank; academics at Swansea University and the University of Leeds; and input from the Nike Foundation.
3. To organise interviews with Plan CEO Ian Wishart, Board Chairperson Anne Skipper or to access copies of speeches made at the launch, contact David Cook on the above numbers. Speeches will also soon be available at www.plan.org.au
4. Plan International is a global development agency with a special emphasis on the rights and wellbeing of children. Plan supports more than 750,000 girls in 48 of the world’s poorest countries in Africa, Asia and South America.
5. The organisation works with children, their families and communities to build a world where children are safe and healthy.
6. Projects including schools and health centres are geared to working with children and their communities, to help them fulfil their potential.