The last week of September was a momentous week for many working in development – the end of the Millennium Development Goals and the launch of a new set of Global Goals that will shape policy, programming and reporting for the foreseeable …
Romana was a young girl when her family told her she was getting married. This is not unusual in Bangladesh; according to UNICEF, nearly two-thirds of girls are married before the age of 18 and more than a quarter of …
Adolescent girls can play an enormous role in bringing about sustainable development. But for too long their rights and potential have been overlooked by world leaders, and this has held back development and equality. At last international momentum is building …
So many of the ways in which women and girls around the world must live their lives are simply taken for granted, never given a second thought. We all know that domestic tasks fall disproportionately on women. That is as …
Coming back from Latvia from a conference on women and sustainable development last week, a voice welcomed us on to Ryanair. “This is your captain speaking”, she said. Familiar enough words, but less so from a woman. In the week …
We often associate FGM with the harmful physical effects suffered by more than 125 million women worldwide. There is much less awareness about the psychological effects that can haunt a woman throughout her lifetime. I know from experience that sometimes …
When you think of Somalia, you probably think of Black Hawk Down, Al Shabaab terrorism and piracy. But if you’re born a girl in Somalia, you face so many other risks, both severe and everyday. Decades of war and humanitarian …
I am the new Head of Profession for Social Development at DFID. I will be using this space to highlight new research, policy and ideas for social development that are brewing in DFID and worldwide. This week I am going …
The Girl Summit 2014 is an important global campaign for DRC, where an estimated 39% of girls are married between the ages of 15 and 18 – and probably younger in rural areas. And that figure needs caveating with the …
There is a growing recognition of the extent and impacts of child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) in Zimbabwe. CEFM is widespread; 31% of young women in Zimbabwe are married by the age of 18. And research shows the deep …
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