Being a girl is hard enough without the extra pressures put on girls in poverty. Women, remember being twelve? No one expected you to be an adult and hopefully your biggest medical worry was the flu. Men, could you imagine your sister, niece, daughter, or granddaughter married off at twelve, separated from her family and loved ones? It is easy to sit back in our recliners and forget that not everyone gets to choose when they are married.
Today, more than 600 million girls live in the developing world. Talk about untapped potential since aprox. three quarters of them are not in school and one in seven is married off before she turns fifteen. The Girl Effect Campaign is not just about letting these girls experience childhood and grow into productive and healthy adults, but also the impact they will have on their families, their communities, and their countries, as adults. Girls can become anything, policy makers, doctors, lawyers, but not if they continue to be overlooked and their potential squandered.