Briefing Book

28 September 2015

Making Sure Adolescent Girls Do Not Disappear

The Power of the Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030

Contents Overview ............................................................................................................................. 1

Core Narrative ................................................................................................................. 2

Left behind ...................................................................................................................... 3

Why it matters ................................................................................................................. 3

The way forward .............................................................................................................. 4

Key Messages .................................................................................................................... 5

Audiences and Asks ........................................................................................................... 7

Assets and Resources ........................................................................................................ 8

Multimedia ....................................................................................................................... 8

Social media .................................................................................................................... 8

Publications ..................................................................................................................... 8

Additional resources ........................................................................................................ 8

Events and Milestones ........................................................................................................ 9

Influencer Outreach .......................................................................................................... 10

International

Day of the Girl

Child 2015

1

Overview

Throughout the world, adolescent girls are disappearing from the international development

agenda even as progress is made on education, health, HIV and AIDS and protection

against violence.

They are disappearing through lack of education. They are disappearing because of

preventable diseases. They are disappearing because of child marriage. They are

disappearing from lack on investment in the policies, services and initiatives that could

strengthen their futures and maximize their potential.

In short, adolescent girls have not received the attention they deserve as individuals. As a

group, they have not been provided with the support they need to overcome inequalities and

discrimination that deprive them of a fair chance in life.

Interventions that bolster the health, safety and education of girls age 10 to 19 are necessary

to secure the rights of the many millions of girls and young women who have been left

behind. They are also necessary because adolescent girls play a ‘make or break’ role in

some of the most important challenges of the next decades. Indeed investing in adolescent

girls is one of the smartest ways to secure a better and more sustainable future for all.

The importance of redoubling efforts and focusing on adolescent girls is the emphasis of the

2015 International Day of the Girl Child, marked on 11 October. This year the theme is: The

Power of the Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030.

The International Day of the Girl Child was established by United Nations resolution in 2011.

The inaugural day in 2012 focused on ending child marriage. In 2013, the theme was

Innovating for Girls’ Education. Last year, the theme was Empowering Adolescent Girls:

Ending the Cycle of Violence. As the lead agency, UNICEF, in consultation with other United

Nations agencies and civil society partners, selected this year’s theme in recognition of the

critical role adolescent girls will play as the global community implements the Sustainable

Development Goals.

This briefing book establishes UNICEF’s core narrative and key messaging, identifies

objectives and audiences, and outlines the assets for the International Day of the Girl Child

2015. The information provided supports communication efforts by UNICEF and its partners.

Additionally, the briefing book provides the basis for messaging that can be used to support

regional and national efforts on International Day of the Girl Child. It can be adapted to

promote regional and national issues important to adolescent girls.

Adolescents, and adolescent girls in particular, will be an increasingly important part of

UNICEF’s public advocacy and outreach. In addition to the International Day of the Girl

Child, adolescents, youth and millennials will be an important part of Universal Children’s

Day on 20 November, when they are expected to play a significant role in Equity Summits

and #fightunfair forums around the globe.

A focus on adolescents and adolescent girls in particular will be a critical part of World AIDS

Day on 1 December. They are also expected to play an empowered role in discussions

about climate change in advance of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change

(COP21) to be held in Paris 30 November – 11 December 2015.

2

Core Narrative

Adolescent girls are disappearing. They are disappearing from public awareness and the

international development agenda.

Failure to invest in policies and programmes tailored to the distinct needs of adolescent girls

age 10 to 19 has made them nearly invisible.

Consider that:

Less than two cents of every development dollar goes to programmes for adolescent

girls, particularly those aged 10–14.1

Even as AIDS-related deaths decreased rapidly between 2001 and 2013 in other

populations, adolescents aged 10 to 19 were left behind; 2 in some countries,

adolescent girls were two to three times more likely to be infected by HIV than boys

of the same age group.3

By the end of 2015, 57 per cent of illiterate young people aged 15 to 24 will be

female.4

Nearly 84 million adolescent girls in formal unions have experienced some form of

intimate partner violence.5

In 2012, 17 per cent of women were married between 15 and 19 years of age.6

However, there are nearly 600 million girls aged 10 to 19 in the world today, each with

limitless individual potential. 7

In the next decades, these girls will represent a large percentage of the workforce and will

grow into future leaders, innovators and teachers. Many will also be the mothers and

caregivers of a new generation. They have the potential to inspire change.

Failure to invest in their futures comes at a high price. Without investment in adolescent

girls, much recent progress on HIV and AIDS, maternal and newborn health, protection and

education will be wasted.

The world will suffer from the lost potential; economic growth will slow and hopes for creating

a sustainable and equitable world will not be realized.

And the rights of many millions of adolescent girls will remain neglected.

As a group, adolescent girls can be a formidable force for create a better world. With the

right investments, support and interventions, adolescent girls have the power and potential

to transform families, communities, nations and the world.

1 United Nations Foundation. Girl Up Fact Sheet. < http://www.unfoundation.org/assets/pdf/girl-up-fact-sheet.pdf> 2 United Nations Children’s Fund, ‘Beyond Averages: Learning from the MDGs’, Progress for Children No. 11, UNICEF, New York, June 2015, p. 38. 3 United Nations Children’s Fund, ‘Beyond Averages: Learning from the MDGs’, Progress for Children No. 11, UNICEF, New York, June 2015, p. 38. 4 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2000–2015: Achievements and Challenges, UNESCO, Paris, March 2015, p. 331. 5 United Nations Children’s Fund, A Statistical Snapshot of Violence against Adolescent Girls, UNICEF, New York, October 2014, p. 15. 6 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2000–2015: Achievements and Challenges, UNESCO, Paris, March 2015, p. 165. 7 United Nations Population Fund, The State of the World Population 2014: The Power of 1.8 Billion Adolescents, Youth and the Transformation of the Future, UNFPA, New York, 2014, p. ii.

3

Left behind

Though many gender disparities have decreased for young girls and adult women, gaps

continue to widen for adolescent girls. Many millions of adolescent girls are excluded from

quality secondary education, access to media and information technology. They do not

receive information about puberty and reproductive health. They are subjected to child

marriage, female genital mutilation and cutting, unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted

diseases and gender-based violence, all of which have lifelong consequences. During times

of conflict and disaster, adolescent girls are among the most vulnerable to exploitation, child

marriage, rape and other forms of violence.

Adolescent girls are among the most marginalized and neglected groups in the world. For

example:

Over 62 million adolescents are out of school – just over half of them are girls.8

If there is no reduction in the practice of child marriage, the number of girls under age

18 married each year will grow from 15 million today to 16.5 million in 2030.9

In sub-Saharan Africa, universal primary school completion for the poorest boys is

not anticipated until 2069; for the poorest girls it is not anticipated until 2086.10

If current population growth trends continue, by 2030 nearly one in four adolescent

girls will live in sub-Saharan Africa where the total number of adolescent mothers

under 18 year of age is projected to rise from 10.1 million in 2010 to 16.4 million in

2030.11

28 million adolescent girls aged 10 – 19 have experienced female genital

mutilation/cutting (FGM/C).12

One of the main reasons adolescent girls are left behind is that they are not recognized as a

distinct group. Services and programmes are not targeted to the age-specific needs of girls

age 10 to 19 and interventions for young girls and adult women fail to address the barriers

and disadvantages adolescent girls face.

In addition, families, communities and policymakers intentionally and unintentionally

perpetuate gender discrimination by assigning adolescent girls to sexual, domestic and

caregiving roles.

Why it matters

The current generation of adolescents are part of the largest youth generation in history –

and the future rests in their hands. However, many millions of the world’s 600 million

adolescent girls struggle with specific deprivations.13 In many cases, gender and poverty

intermix with other deprivations to create a vicious circle of inequality that continues for

generations.

8 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Statistics, Global Monitoring Report, Education for All: Achievements and Challenges 2000 – 2015, UNESCO, Paris, March 2015, p. 375. 9 United Nations Children’s Fund, Ending Child Marriage: Progress and prospects, UNICEF, New York, 2013, p. 6. 10 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Statistics, Fixing the Broken Promise of Education for All: Findings from the Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children, UIS, Montreal, 2015, p. 61. 11 United Nations Population Fund, Motherhood in Childhood. Facing the challenges of adolescent pregnancy, UNFPA, New York, 2013, p. 14. 12 United Nations Children’s Fund, A Statistical Snapshot of Violence against Adolescent Girls, UNICEF, New York, October 2014, p. 19. 13 United Nations Population Fund, The State of the World Population 2014: The Power of 1.8 Billion Adolescents, Youth and the Transformation of the Future, UNFPA, New York, 2014, p. ii.

4

However, investment in girls’ health, safety and education pays development dividends. For

example:

Research shows that half the reduction in under 5 mortality can be traced to

increases in schooling for young women.14

If all women had secondary education, there would be 49 per cent fewer child deaths

in low- and lower middle income countries.15

Children of more educated mothers are more likely to receive vaccines, see a doctor

if they are sick, receive rehydration if they have diarrhoea, sleep under insecticide-

treated nets, and benefit from other health-related practices.16

If all women completed primary education, maternal mortality would fall by 66 per

cent, saving the lives of 189,000 women every year.17

The way forward

Adolescent girls have the potential to bring about change in their own lives and futures. In

the near future, they will make up a large portion of the workforce; they will make up at least

half of the voting public and have the potential to be a powerful political force. Many will be

the leaders of tomorrow.

Political will and funding today are essential for programmes and policies that prepare

adolescent girls to take their rightful place at the forefront of public and private life tomorrow.

Investing in the power of adolescent girls upholds the rights of individual children. However,

it is also a recipe for a more equitable and prosperous future – one in which half of humanity

is an equal partner in solving the problems of economic growth, disease prevention, political

conflict and climate change.

With age-specific investments, interventions, policies and programmes, adolescent girls can

be empowered to forge a new future for themselves and the world. These efforts must

include investment in education, skills training and access to information technology. In

addition, menstrual hygiene management, HIV education and reproductive health services

are essential. Programmes and investments must also combat attitudes and behaviours –

child marriage, female genital mutilation and cutting, and sexual violence – that endanger

girls and impede their empowerment and progress.

UNICEF can point to successes that stem from these efforts and others. They include

alternative learning opportunities that have offered adolescent girls a second chance at an

education, behaviour change communication that takes aim at harmful customs and

practices, and HIV programmes that involve adolescents in peer-to-peer education. Water,

sanitation and hygiene programmes in schools have allowed girls to serve as agents of

behaviour change in their families and communities.

14 Gakidou, Emmanuela, Krycia Cowling, Rafael Lozano and Christopher Murray, ‘Increased educational attainment and its effect on child mortality in 175 countries between 1970 and 2009: A systematic analysis’, The Lancet, vol. 376, 2010, pp. 959–974. 15 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013/14: Teaching and Learning:

Achieving quality for all – Gender Summary, UNESCO, Paris, 2014, p. 20. 16 United Nations Children’s Fund, The Investment Case for Education and Equity, UNICEF, New York, January 2015, p. 10. 17 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013/14: Teaching and Learning: Achieving quality for all – Gender Summary, UNESCO, Paris, 2014, p. 24.

5

These efforts are only the start. Much more is needed to empower adolescent girls to

advance gender equality for themselves and for the sustainable advancement of their

families, communities and nations.

Key Messages

Adolescent girls are disappearing from public awareness and the international

development agenda.

In 2013, girls accounted for nearly two thirds of new HIV infections among

adolescents aged 15 to 19.18

About 1 of every 10 girls under age 20 has been raped or subjected to a forced

sexual act.19

Nearly a quarter of girls aged 15 to 19 reported being victims of violence since they

turned 15.20

In 2012, 17 per cent of women were married between 15 and 19 years of age.21

If there is no reduction in the practice of child marriage, the number of girls under age

18 married each year will grow from 15 million today to 16.5 million in 2030 to over

18 million in 2050.22

An estimated half a billion women and girls lack adequate facilities to manage

menstrual hygiene needs with dignity, privacy and safety.23

In two thirds of the countries in which there is gender disparity in lower secondary

education, it is girls who miss out.24

Only 17 per cent of young women from the poorest households have comprehensive

knowledge of HIV.25

However, adolescent girls have the power and potential to transform the world for the

better – for themselves and us all.

If all women had secondary education, there would be 49 per cent fewer child

deaths.26

A literate mother is 23 per cent more likely on average to seek help from a skilled

attendant at the birth of a child.27

In low-income countries, if all mothers had a secondary education, there would be a

26 per cent reduction in stunting.28

18 United Nations Children’s Fund, ‘Beyond Averages: Learning from the MDGs’, Progress for Children No. 11, UNICEF, New York, June 2015, p. 39. 19 United Nations Children’s Fund, Hidden in Plain Sight: A statistical analysis of violence against Children, UNICEF, New York, 2014. 20 United Nations Children’s Fund, Hidden in Plain Sight: A statistical analysis of violence against Children, UNICEF, New York, 2014. 21 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2000–2015: Achievements and Challenges, UNESCO, Paris, March 2015, p. 165. 22 United Nations Children’s Fund, Ending Child Marriage: Progress and prospects, UNICEF, New York, 2013, p. 6. 23 World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund, 25 Years of Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water: 2015 update and MDG

Assessment, WHO and UNICEF, Geneva and New York, June 2015, p. 45. 24 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013/14: Teaching and Learning: Achieving quality for all – Gender Summary, UNESCO, Paris, 2014, p. 8. 25 United Nations Children’s Fund, ‘Beyond Averages: Learning from the MDGs’, Progress for Children No. 11, UNICEF, New York, June 2015, p. 40. 26 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013/14: Teaching and Learning: Achieving quality for all – Gender Summary, UNESCO, Paris, 2014, p. 20. 27 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013/14: Teaching and Learning: Achieving quality for all – Gender Summary, UNESCO, Paris, 2014, p. 23. 28 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013/14: Teaching and Learning: Achieving quality for all – Gender Summary, UNESCO, Paris, 2014, p. 26.

6

In sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia, child marriage would drop by 64 per

cent if all women had a secondary education.29

From 1970 to 2009, more than half the reduction in under 5 mortality can be traced to

increases in the average number of years of schooling for young women.30

Investing in adolescent girls is one of the smartest ways to secure a better and more

sustainable future.

Investing in girls so they can complete the next level of education could lead to

lifetime earnings of up to 68 percent of annual gross domestic product.31

The cost of adolescent pregnancy as a share of gross domestic product could be as

high as 30 per cent over a girl’s lifetime.32

Women and girls reinvest 90 per cent of their income back into their families and communities, compared to only 30 – 40 per cent for men and boys.33

With targeted investments in age-specific programmes and services, we can empower

adolescent girls to be the leaders and innovators of tomorrow.

Education, skills training and access to information technology can transform

adolescent girls’ lives and prepare girls for life, jobs and leadership.

Investment in age-specific services on puberty, menstrual hygiene management, and

sexual and reproductive health are essential to providing adolescent girls with the

health care information and services they need.

Physical, mental and sexual violence against adolescent girls in any form must not

be tolerated.

Social and economic policies must be enacted and consistently implemented to

protect adolescent girls from child marriage, trafficking and sexual exploitation.

29 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013/14: Teaching and Learning: Achieving quality for all – Gender Summary, UNESCO, Paris, 2014, p. 29. 30 Gakidou, Emmanuela, Krycia Cowling, Rafael Lozano and Christopher Murray, ‘Increased educational attainment and its effect on child mortality in 175 countries between 1970 and 2009: A systematic analysis’, The Lancet, vol. 376, 2010, pp. 959–974. 31 Chaaban, Jad and Wendy Cunningham, ‘Measuring the Economic Gain of Investing in Girls: The Girl Effect’, Policy Research Working Paper 5753 of The World Bank Human Development Network Children and Youth Unit and Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network Gender Unit, The World Bank, Washington, D.C., August 2011, p 2. 32 Chaaban, Jad and Wendy Cunningham, ‘Measuring the Economic Gain of Investing in Girls: The Girl Effect’, Policy Research Working Paper 5753 of The World Bank Human Development Network Children and Youth Unit and Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network Gender Unit, The World Bank, Washington, D.C., August 2011, p 2. 33 https://girlup.org/impact/challenges-girls-face/leadership/

7

Audiences and Asks

In order to unlock the power of adolescent girls, many stakeholders will need to come

together.

Political will and support is required to prepare adolescent girls to reach their full potential

and contribute to creating a better world for themselves and us all.

Funding will also be necessary to provide age-specific policies and programmes that support

adolescent girls.

Therefore, UNICEF calls on United Nation agencies and Member States, civil society

organizations, and private sector stakeholders to commit to putting adolescent girls at the

centre of sustainable development efforts by:

Giving adolescent girls the status and attention that they deserve when planning

policies, programmes and investment.

Investing in high quality education, skills, training, access to technology and other

learning initiatives that prepare girls for life, jobs and leadership.

Investing in health and nutrition suitable for adolescent years, including services and

education on puberty education, menstrual hygiene management, and sexual and

reproductive health.

Promoting zero tolerance for physical, mental, and sexual violence.

Enacting and consistently implementing social, economic, and policy mechanisms to

combat early marriage and female genital mutilation and cutting.

Investing in the creation and maintenance of social and public spaces for civic and

political engagement, creativity and talent enhancement.

Promoting gender-responsive legislation and policies across all areas, especially for

adolescent girls who are disabled, vulnerable and marginalized, and victims of

trafficking and sexual exploitation.

8

Assets and Resources

Assets and resources will be available to build momentum leading up to the International

Day of the Girl Child. They will also help continue the conversation on the importance of

adolescent girls going beyond the events of the day.

Multimedia

Multimedia materials for the International Day of the Girl Child will be available on WeShare.

Social media

Social media materials for the International Day of the Girl Child also will be available on

WeShare. They include:

Videos

Factographs – graphic presentations of information on adolescent girls

Online visualization tools will also be available.

An online story: To bring alive the many inequalities adolescent girls face, UNICEF is

partnering with the Nike Foundation to create a compelling online story on its

Instagram platform.

An interactive tool: The Education for All Global Monitoring Report at UNESCO is

also producing an online interactive tool that allows users to discover how different

circumstances contribute to the gender gap and affect a girl’s chances of going to

school and learning. (link TK)

Publications

Gender and Education for All 2000-2015: Achievements and Challenges (link TK)

To mark International Day of the Girl Child, the Education for All Global Monitoring Report at

UNESCO will launch this Gender Summary which reports on global progress in achieving

gender equity and equality in education since the year 2000. This report is published in

partnership with UNICEF and United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) and will be

launched at a high-level panel event in UNICEF House, New York.

Additional resources

New International Day of the Girl Child logo: available on WeShare soon

Hashtag for Twitter, Instagram and Facebook: #DayofTheGirl

Email: dayofthegirl@unicef.org

Website: www.unicef.org/dayofthegirl

9

Events and Milestones

For the International Day of the Girl Child 2015, UNICEF and its partners will mark the day

with events at Headquarters in New York that recognize the importance of social, economic,

and political investment in adolescent girls. The official day, 11 October, falls on a Sunday

this year, so UNICEF will co-host two events with key partners on Monday 12 October. Both

events will take place at UNICEF House. They are:

1. A moderated high-level discussion forum in conjunction with the launch of the

Gender Summary of the Global Monitoring Report on education which highlights the

importance of investing in girls’ and education. The forum is co-hosted by UNICEF,

UNESCO/GMR, of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations

Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Plan International.

Speakers and panellists include UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, UNICEF

Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta, Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation

Chelsea Clinton, Ange Kagame, First Daughter of Rwanda and women’s rights

activist, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, and Aaron

Benavot, Director of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report, which is

published by UNCESCO.

2. An exhibition and showcase on the power of grassroots’ and girls’ initiatives in

moving the girl movement forward. The exhibition and showcase are co-hosted by

UNICEF, Plan International, NIKE Foundation, Girls Not Brides, Together for Girls,

United Nations Foundation, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW),

UNESCO and the Population Council.

10

Influencer Outreach

Influencers are people who possess greater than average potential to influence others due

to attributes such as frequency of communication, personal persuasiveness or size and

effectiveness of their social network. Influencers can and should be activated to strengthen

UNICEF’s brand and support its work by engaging with their existing networks.

Key influencers for Day of the Girl Child can include:

Authority Figures: policy makers, government officials, academics

Advocates: non-profit activists, scientific, technical or business leaders

Public Champions: celebrities, philanthropists, social media advocates

Brand Ambassadors: UNICEF goodwill ambassadors, the Executive Director, and

UNICEF representatives

Engaging influencers for International Day of the Girl Child

At Headquarters, internal stakeholders will be mobilized to reach out to their networks

encouraging them to participate in the day’s activities and foster engagement with important

issues beyond the day itself. Thousands of individuals spanning key UNICEF external

audiences around the world will be reached through a comprehensive email campaign that

will highlight the importance of empowering adolescent girls.

However, influencer engagement is an opportunity for ‘glocal’ involvement at local, country

and regional levels.

Communication officers are encouraged to create a short wish list of 5 to10 people who can

have a real impact in the local context. It is important to develop clear asks for their

participation in UNICEF activities for International Day of the Girl Child and beyond. These

asks can incorporate a wide range of engagement activities including writing blogs,

participating in a local event, or digital engagement through social media activation. It is also

useful to focus engagement on the issues affecting adolescent girls that most resonate in the

local context.

A template for a letter will be available soon and shared. It can be tailored to the specific

needs of a country or region and used to reach out to influencers.

Another key consideration is how to continue building relationships with influencers beyond

the International Day of the Girl Child and begin thinking of ways to keep engaging them

around girls’ empowerment issues. Compiling key future dates and events and providing

suggestions of ways to continue working together is an essential first step in building a

lasting relationship.