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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> WUNRN_LISTSERVE-owner@lists.wunrn.com [mailto:WUNRN_LISTSERVE-owner@lists.wunrn.com]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>WUNRN LISTSERVE<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, October 16, 2017 11:44 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> WUNRN ListServe <wunrn_listserve@lists.wunrn.com><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [WUNRN] Girls Speak Out On Inequality<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WUNRN<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.wunrn.com/">http://www.wunrn.com</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.unfpa.org/news/girls-speak-out-inequality">http://www.unfpa.org/news/girls-speak-out-inequality</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:9.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:robotobold;color:#404040">Girls Speak Out On Inequality<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:9.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Author: UNFPA – 12 October 2017<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">.
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><img border="0" width="542" height="348" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image010.jpg@01D345DF.478C31B0" alt="Girls speak out on inequality"></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">What does gender inequality look like?
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">By Bodil Jane for UNFPA<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:roboto_condensedbold;color:gray">UNITED NATIONS, New York –
</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Despite years of efforts and
</span><a href="http://www.unfpa.org/press/empower-girls-during-and-after-crises"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#1C97C8;text-decoration:none">advances</span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">,
full </span><a href="http://www.unfpa.org/gender-equality"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#1C97C8;text-decoration:none">gender equality</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">has yet to be realized. There is not one country in the world free of gender-based violence or discrimination. And in too many places, the burdens of inequality fall hardest
on the youngest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Around the world, as girls approach puberty, they find themselves increasingly vulnerable. Society starts to view them differently:
as household help, as potential wives and mothers, as interlopers in school and the workplace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">The recent
</span><a href="http://www.unfpa.org/events/international-day-girl-child"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#1C97C8;text-decoration:none">International Day of the Girl Child</span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">,
is a day for recognizing the challenges facing girls around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">To mark the occasion, UNFPA shined a spotlight on five girls who have spoken out about the issues affecting them and their peers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">What does gender inequality look like? These five girls can tell you.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotobold;color:#404040">,
in Lebanon: “I tell my friends that getting married early will deprive them of their childhood.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Rates of child marriage
</span><a href="http://www.unfpa.org/news/new-study-finds-child-marriage-rising-among-most-vulnerable-syrian-refugees"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#1C97C8;text-decoration:none">have been rising</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">among Syrian refugee families. Under the stresses of war, displacement and economic hardship, parents are increasingly seeing marriage as a way to ensure their daughters are
cared for. Some even believe marriage will protect their daughters from sexual violence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">In fact, child marriage is a human rights violation, one that leaves girls more vulnerable to violence, abuse and exploitation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><a href="http://www.unfpa.org/news/child-marriage-rates-soar-among-syrian-refugees-one-girl-takes-stand"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#1C97C8;text-decoration:none">Raneem
learned about the harmful consequences of child marriage</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">in a UNFPA-supported youth programme, and she quickly became an outspoken advocate against the practice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">“I managed to convince two of my friends who were going to get married young to wait,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Raneem has become a leader and voice of wisdom among her peers. “I reach out to them to explain to them what I myself have learned,”
she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><img border="0" width="476" height="476" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image011.jpg@01D345DF.478C31B0" alt="http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/5-illustration-amina_illustration_embed.jpg"></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt:10.5pt;background:#404040"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#CCCCCC">Amina says girls have fewer career prospects than boys. Illustration by Bodil Jane for UNFPA.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:15.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotobold;color:#404040">Amina, 14, in the Republic of Moldova: “I feel that if I were a boy, I would have more possibilities to find a stable and better employment.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:15.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Although Moldovan girls attend school at roughly the same rate as boys, their future opportunities are
</span><a href="http://www.unfpa.org/news/girls-call-tearing-down-gender-barriers-moldova"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#1C97C8;text-decoration:none">limited by social expectations</span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">.
A 2015 study showed that most people in the country believe domestic chores are a woman’s primary responsibility. Many felt that when women have jobs, they are taking opportunities away from men.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:15.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">These attitudes also reveal themselves in darker ways: 41 per cent of men surveyed say there are times when a woman needs to be beaten.
Nineteen per cent of women agree.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">At a UNFPA-supported youth programme, Amina and others discussed the importance of investing in girls’ educations and opportunities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">She knows that, like other girls, she will have to work hard to achieve her goals. “I need to be ambitious,” Amina said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><img border="0" width="476" height="476" id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image012.jpg@01D345DF.478C31B0" alt="http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/1-illustration-fatima1_embed_1.jpg"></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt:10.5pt;background:#404040"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#CCCCCC">Fatima helps girls stay in school. Illustration by Bodil Jane for UNFPA.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:15.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotobold;color:#404040">Fatima, 13, in Malawi: “There is great change in attendance in class among our fellow girls.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Poverty is also gender unequal. Although it casts a dark shadow on boys and girls alike, it affects them differently.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">For girls, it can mean the inability to afford essential hygiene supplies, like sanitary pads.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">This is true in Malawi, where only about a third of girls enrol in secondary school. One of the reasons contributing to this low enrolment
rate is the lack of affordable hygiene products that would enable them to attend class during their periods.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">To address this problem,
</span><a href="http://www.unfpa.org/news/periods-not-problem-thanks-pad-making-club-malawi"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#1C97C8;text-decoration:none">Fatima and her friend Deborah began a school club</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">that makes reusable sanitary napkins, which they distribute to their fellow female students.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Today, Fatima said, “most girls come to school even during menstruation period, and never miss lessons.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><img border="0" width="476" height="476" id="Picture_x0020_5" src="cid:image013.jpg@01D345DF.478C31B0" alt="http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/3-illustration-shaina1_embed.jpg"></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt:10.5pt;background:#404040"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#CCCCCC">Shaina says girls need to be empowered. Illustration by Bodil Jane for UNFPA.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:15.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotobold;color:#404040">Shaina, 16, in the Philippines: “When a girl becomes pregnant, her life changes dramatically.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Gender inequality can also mean early motherhood.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Globally, millions of girls become pregnant while they are still children. Most of these girls are impoverished and have few opportunities.
For them, pregnancy is not a choice. Rather, it is a reflection of their lack of choices.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><a href="http://www.unfpa.org/news/girls-voices-essential-philippines-campaign-against-teen-pregnancy"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#1C97C8;text-decoration:none">Shaina
has witnessed this in her community</span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">: “Some stop pursuing their education and their job opportunities diminish. She becomes more vulnerable to poverty and her health often
suffers.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Adolescent pregnancy can also be deadly for girls whose bodies are not yet ready for motherhood. Pregnancy-related complications are
the leading cause of death among adolescent girls, according to </span><a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs345/en/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#1C97C8;text-decoration:none">the World
Health Organization</span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Shaina attended a UNFPA-supported forum where young people were able to speak out about the issue. One important step, she said, is
to give girls a sense of hope and agency.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">“It means a great deal to me and many other girls that our voices are heard and we’re empowered,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:15.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><img border="0" width="476" height="476" id="Picture_x0020_6" src="cid:image015.jpg@01D345DF.478C31B0" alt="http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/4_illustration-hillary2_embed.jpg"></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt:10.5pt;background:#404040"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#CCCCCC">Hillary managed to stay in school as a teen mom, and is now an advocate for girls. Illustration by Bodil
Jane for UNFPA.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:15.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:3.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotobold;color:#404040">Hillary, 18, in Costa Rica: “What is a 13-year-old girl doing taking care of a baby? She has been robbed of her childhood.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">Hillary knows all too well the hardships of adolescent pregnancy.
</span><a href="http://www.unfpa.org/news/costa-rica-teen-mom-girls-rights-advocate"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:#1C97C8;text-decoration:none">She became pregnant at age 16</span></a><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">In Costa Rica, approximately 14,000 adolescent girls become pregnant each year, according to government statistics. Many of these
girls are pushed out of school, leading to worse outcomes for themselves and their families.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">But Hillary managed to overcome these challenges.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">She finished school and went on to become a youth counsellor and advocate. In this role, she teaches other girls about their rights.
She encourages them to have confidence and ambition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.25in"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:robotoregular;color:gray">“I tell the girls they’re not alone, no matter what their situation is,” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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