Donate

Join the movement for girls’ rights

Join the fight for equal rights.

Around the world, including here in Australia, girls still don’t have equal rights – and that has to change. That’s why we’re standing with young people as they campaign on the issues that matter most to them, from child marriage and trafficking to street harassment and sexual exploitation at work.

Photo: Plan International Australia Youth Activists attend the Women’s March4Justice. © Plan International Australia

Will you join the movement fighting for girls’ rights?

Right now, millions of girls are being married as children. Forced out of school. Killed by violence. Half the world’s population is being held back by inequality, but it doesn’t have to be this way. When girls are empowered to speak up, know their rights and lead, they can create a better, more equal world.

And a better now for girls, means a better future for everyone.

When girls are educated and supported – their entire family and community benefits, including boys and men. Because gender inequality affects absolutely everyone. By standing with girls and empowering them to speak up, know their rights and lead, we’re working towards a better, more equal world for all. Every day, girls are taking on new issues in their communities and we need your help to stand with them. Whether that is signing a petition or emailing your MP, we’ll let you know what you can do to stand with girls and make real change.

By signing, you consent to Plan International Australia contacting you regarding campaign progress and opportunities to support its impact work, including fundraising. You agree to Plan International Australia collecting and handling your personal information as per its Privacy Policy. For inquiries, email [email protected] or call 13 75 26.

Photo: Sarah knows more about her rights after joining the children’s club at her school. © Plan International Australia















Note: we might reach out to you on the details provided to share information on how you can support us further.


Our Campaigns

Families from Sudan arriving at the Adré transit centre in Chad  

Sudan crisis

Join the call urging Foreign Minister Penny Wong to provide $50 million to help prevent catastrophic loss of life in Sudan.

In Gaza, women and children are bearing the brunt of the escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine. Thousands have been killed and an estimated 1.5 million people have been displaced – more than half of them children. Currently displaced in Gaza with her family, Fatem shares these photos of the street outside of the house she is sheltering in. “We had to leave our house because our area was no longer safe. We are currently in another house that’s just a little, a tiny little, bit safer, considering that in Gaza, all locations are unsafe. Nowhere is far from the bombing, and the probability of being killed is never far away."

Ceasefire in Gaza now

Join the call to Foreign Minister Penny Wong, for an immediate ceasefire and increase in humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

Amplify Pacific girls’ voices

Share the voices of Pacific girls, their experience and their priorities for action on the climate crisis by emailing your local MP.

By standing with young people to make change, you’ve been part of some huge wins in recent years.

Our campaigning model is simple and, most importantly, youth-led. We work with young people and youth activists around the world to find out what meaningful change would look like in their communities and how it can be achieved. Then with your support, we stand with them as they lead campaigns and lobby those in power to create lasting impact. We’ve seen girls across the globe change their futures in this way, taking on issues from child marriage to living safely in the world’s cities – including in Melbourne. But every day, girls are still being discriminated against just for being girls – and we’re still a long way away from achieving gender equality. That’s why we need you to join the movement and stand with young people everywhere in the fight for equal rights. When girls are treated as equals all children will benefit. We are determined to see a world where all children are valued as equal and the most marginalised children are heard.

Wins and updates

In a displacement camp in the Toghdeer region of Somaliland, 38-year-old Hoodo is grieving the deaths of her two youngest children. Hoodo’s children didn’t die from illness or disease, they died from starvation caused by the catastrophic hunger crisis gripping the Horn of Africa. “It was only one month between their deaths. It was so painful and sad. I am now so afraid for my other children,” Hoodo tells us. Hoodo's daughter 9-year-old Marwa says she would like to have a better life with her family. “Last night we did not eat anything, we slept on an empty stomach. Sometimes we eat and sometimes we don’t eat. I would like to have clothes, good food and a good house.”

Help Fight Famine

In the midst of the global hunger crisis, with 50 million people on the brink of famine, we campaigned alongside other organisations in the humanitarian sector for urgent funding from the Australian government to help save lives.

In 2023, the Australian Government announced an additional $69 million emergency assistance package to support famine affected communities since we launched the Help Fight Famine campaign.

The funds will go towards providing food, water and other essential support.

Represent Us Media Stunt in Treasury Gardens, May 2022

Improving representation in Parliament

In the 2022 federal election, we called on political parties to urgently set targets to ensure our Parliament reflects the diversity of the country we live in, because young women and gender-diverse people deserve a place in our democracy.

Thanks to your support, the new Parliament has greater representation of both women and people of different ethnicities.

Read more about the Represent Us campaign.

In Malawi, Plan International works alongside children, young people and their communities to address the structural and root causes of poverty. Our programmes support children in 27 out of the 28 districts in Malawi and have positive effects on their communities, especially where our activities have been scaled up. We support children to complete a quality and inclusive primary and secondary education and work to improve access to learning, especially for vulnerable and excluded groups of children, with a focus on promoting girls’ education and protecting children and young people from all forms of violence and abuse.

Outlawing child marriage in Malawi

You supported a group of young campaigners who were determined to change the high rates of child marriage in their country – more than half of young women were married as children.

In 2015 a Bill was passed by the Malawian government that outlawed child marriage. But the new law was undermined by the country’s constitution, which still allowed children to be married from 16, with parental consent.

In partnership with Plan International,meli the youth activists continued their campaign to close this loophole. Together we launched a petition, asking people around the world to stand with young activists and more than 42,000 of you did! Your support made sure their voices were heard and in February 2017 the government approved a bill to make child marriage illegal, for good!

It is not typical for girls to speak up in Rahimat’s village, which is in the Western part of Nepal. But 18-year-old Rahimat is firm that she will be the voice for girls who are not able to advocate for themselves. Rahimat comes from a remote community where traditionally girls are not encouraged to continue their education, but instead to marry. Recognising that she was fortunate to have supportive parents who prioritised her education, Rahimat was one of very few in her community who were able to pursue further studies. Now she is sitting entrance examinations to study medicine at university. For the past year she has been the Vice President of the National Adolescent Girls Network, led by Plan International’s local partner, Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre. The network offers two or three girls from each district the opportunity to get together and discuss the issues affecting them in a safe space

Ending the trafficking of girls in Nepal

Every day, girls are being trafficked within Nepal, across the border into India and overseas. They’re being forcibly taken, coerced, targeted by men posing as their boyfriends and lured with the promise of work and a new life.

Once they’re taken away from their homes, these girls are being sexually exploited in brothels. They’re being forced into child marriage, domestic servitude and to work in clothes factories. They’re being abused for others’ gain, and it has to stop.

That’s why we asked you to share your messages of support with youth advocates Sarita and Sabina and sign their petition, as they campaigned to get their Mayor to take action – and the response was overwhelming, with more than 46,000 of you around the world adding your name.

With your support, Sarita and Sabina asked their Mayor to commit to end the trafficking of girls in Nepal – and he’s agreed to take action. As a result, a new public awareness campaign will be launched, to make sure every girl in their area knows about the risks.

Ruth didn’t want to drop out of school, but the 20-year-old refugee from South Sudan says she had no choice when she couldn’t afford the fees. “After I left school, I was at home, and life became very hard.” The settlement where she lives, in the Adjumani district in the north of Uganda, is now home to some 15,000 people (including those who live in the host community). Uganda is the largest refugee host country in Africa. Wanted to help her family, Ruth joined a business training programme set up by Plan International as part of our Adolescent Girls in Crisis project. Today, she is the proud owner of a successful small business, selling charcoal, dried fish, tomatoes, scissors, padlocks and dresses – a real corner store.

Stopping the sexual exploitation of girls at work in Uganda

In Uganda, as many as one in ten girls have been affected by sexual abuse and exploitation, and girls tell us that this is a real issue for them at work. In bars, restaurants and lodges, girls are being coerced into having sex with the boss to get their job – and forced to have sex with customers to keep it.

Living in poverty with little option for escape means that many girls and young women are at high risk of exploitation. Financially desperate, and often with children, parents and siblings to support, they have no choice but to stay in the job, hoping it will get better.

When they are brave enough to speak out about what’s happening to them, they’re often ignored, not taken seriously, or silenced. It’s a terrible abuse of power – and it has to stop.

Over 500,000 people around the world, including from Australia, stood in solidarity with Ugandan youth advocates Faridah, Fiona and Rowlings. Together, we secured a commitment by the Ugandan Government to launch a review into the sexual exploitation of girls and young women at work.