Greater involvement for men and boys, starting gender and sex education earlier, and tackling traditional cultural norms, are just some of the expert recommendations on how to end harmful practices, such as child marriage and female genital mutilation, which undermine girls’ rights and health in developing countries, experts say.
Their comments come in the wake of the United Nations Population Fund’s State of the World Population 2016 report, published last week, which says the future of development lies with 10-year-old girls. The report argues that “age 10 is a critical juncture in a girl’s life” and that what happens to her then will “determine the trajectory for the rest of her life,” but also impact society at large.
Speaking at the second annual Girl Summit in D.C., where the report was launched, youth and gender development experts discussed how current programming and research needs to be changed to improve outcomes for girls.
About the author
Sophie Edwards
Sophie Edwards is a Devex Contributing Reporter covering global education, water and sanitation, and innovative financing, along with other topics. She has previously worked for NGOs, and the World Bank, and spent a number of years as a journalist for a regional newspaper in the U.K. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's from Cambridge University.
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