World Vision Launches Global Campaign to Empower Girls Across the World

• 23 underage girls are married every minute
• 64 million girls are involved in child labour
• World Vision campaign aims to empower girls to break free from this cycle and grow up fearless

Gender equality is making progress, but we know that millions of girls are still deprived of their basic rights – just because they are girls.

That’s why World Vision is running an international campaign to help girls in the developing world to learn, have a voice and be the fearless girls they were born to be.

World Vision offices in numerous countries including UK, Australia, France and Singapore are aiming to see 1,000 Girls sponsored by International Day of the Girl on October 11th.

Each year, millions of girls in poverty are kept out of school, with 23 underage girls married every minute.

Andrew Morley, President of World Vision International, said: “1,000 Girls is about joining a movement which empowers a generation of girls to control their own futures – not having their futures control them.

“During a visit to Kenya recently, I met girls who were subjected to FGM and forced into marriage at the age of just eight years old. It’s heart-breaking, it’s an atrocity – and it’s just plain wrong.

“Our staff is successfully transforming attitudes to put a stop to this, but there’s a huge task ahead.

“Child sponsorship plays a powerful role in this, challenging attitudes and working with families and communities to provide real alternatives to early marriage and child labour.”

International Day of the Girl, October 11th, is a day that was created by the United Nations in 2012 to celebrate the achievements and potential of girls. Many are made to stay home and work, while others are forced to marry and bear children before they are physically or emotionally ready.

Go to www.wvi.org/1000-Girls to find out more and to sponsor a girl as part of World Vision’s 1,000 Girls Campaign.

ENDS.

Note to Editor

World Vision is a Christian International non-governmental organisation that provides short and long-term assistance to more than 100 million people worldwide.