The State of the World’s Girls 2023: Turning the world around – Girl and young women activists leading the fight for equality – World

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New report highlights the struggles of girl leaders in campaigning for change

Transformative outcomes have been achieved by girls in their campaign for change, but they continue to face persistent barriers and challenges in their pursuit of a more equitable world.

This finding comes from a new global study conducted by child and girls’ rights organization Plan International, which looks into the experiences of girls and young women leaders and advocates who campaign on a range of various, interconnected issues, ranging from social protection to climate justice.

Titled ‘Turning the World Around: Girls and Young Women Activists Leading the Fight for Equality,’ the study is part of the organization’s State of the World’s Girls Report series. It is based on a large-scale survey of 1,100 girls and young women leaders and advocates aged 15 to 24 from 26 countries, including Ethiopia, Jordan, Canada, Kenya and the Philippines.

According to the report, which is one of the most extensive research surveys of girl leaders conducted to date, the biggest barrier to girls’ campaigning is a lack of funding. More than half of the respondents named it as the main factor compromising their ability to campaign to the best of their abilities, while a third said that they needed to be made aware of funding sources that enabled their work.

Others also cited fear for their safety, mentioning that they faced threats of physical violence as a result of their campaigning and had experienced online harassment and abuse. Among those surveyed in the Philippines, many feared hostility from members of their community.

Another common barrier for those who took part in the research was a lack of confidence in their own skills and a lack of knowledge about the issues they were interested in. Respondents from the country also echoed this concern.

Girls and young women acknowledged that both their age and gender, being girls and young women, made it more difficult for them to achieve their goals. Young female advocates and campaigners were seen as less knowledgeable than their male counterparts. In most cases, they report being patronized and ignored.

“I think there’s still a stereotypical and misogynistic approach to us female advocates, especially in our communities,” said Eane, 17.

Lee, 23, said, “I am relatively young, so of course all the other people will not be very interested in what [I] have to say.”

Girl leaders likewise cited constraints on free speech, women’s rights, peaceful assembly, and activism due to restrictive laws and regulations.

In the Philippines, despite the increasing number of youth-led and youth-focused organizations, individual advocates, campaigners, and social movements, most girls and young women remain unclear about how the government addresses the issues they are focused on.

Moreover, the majority of those surveyed expressed that there is a lack of clarity on specific actions, their implementation, and engagement with government actors, partly due to their limited involvement in decision-making.

What do girls and young women campaign for?

In interviews and focus group discussions, the girls and young women in the Philippines identified similar areas of advocacy, which include gender equality, sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR), teenage pregnancy, and climate change action. These align with the concerns of girl advocates from various regions of the world, where gender equality remains the top issue.

Empowered, aged 18, emphasized the importance of her climate change campaign, citing the vulnerability of her community to calamities and its severe impact on people, their livelihoods and properties.

Education was highlighted as vital for research participants, forming the core of their ability to campaign and drive change.

On a global scale, the report revealed that 95 percent of surveyed girl advocates found campaigning to have a positive impact on their lives, fostering pride, empowerment, and a sense of capability.

However, at the national level, while most young women and girl advocates took pride in contributing to change, less than half felt their campaigns met or exceeded their expectations.

Girl leaders also expressed that collective campaigning or advocacy, involving collaboration and learning from others, was often more effective and enjoyable than individual efforts.

Mitch, 18, emphasized that community support for female leaders and campaigners depends on the community’s understanding of their advocacy.

Girls and young women call on the government and civil society actors to support their collective action

In celebration of the International Day of the Girl, Plan International Pilipinas convened representatives from the United Nations, foreign embassies, national government agencies and private sector partners in a roundtable discussion to plan a course of action and identify opportunities for collaboration for girls and young women leading the change in their communities.

“The study reveals a stark reality as it uncovers the multitude of challenges that girl advocates face, highlighting the critical need for a multisectoral effort to ensure their voices are heard and their ambitions are realized,” said Plan International Pilipinas Executive Director Ana Maria Locsin.

In the report, girls and young women from around the world laid out an urgent call to action for decision-makers across all levels of society. This includes increasing funding for grassroots girl and youth-led groups and networks, strengthening the participation of adolescent girls and young women in civic and political spaces, supporting the education of girls and young women at all levels, investing in initiatives for gender equality, and addressing barriers to girls and young women’s campaigning and the backlash against girl activists.

“We are asking this of you, not just as youth advocates but as the voice of our fellow girls and young women who long dream to be heard and seen,” said Jessa, 21.

As a response to the girl leaders’ call to action, commitments poured from the attendees of the roundtable discussion.

Her Excellency Marielle Geraedts, Ambassador of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; His Excellency Christian Lyster, Ambassador of the Royal Norwegian Embassy; Alexander Schmidt, First Secretary for Political Affairs of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany; and Grace Borja, Senior Program Officer of the Australian Embassy shared that women’s rights and leadership, as well as gender equality and mainstreaming, are core components of their Feminist Foreign Policy.

Ma. Kristine Josefina Balmes, Deputy Executive Director for Operations of the Philippine Commission on Women, outlined the agency’s efforts to continue its initiatives on sexual and reproductive health, women’s economic empowerment, education and protection.

Nimisha Jain, the Country Manager of Beiersdorf Philippines (the makers of NIVEA), stressed the importance of not only providing funding but also safeguarding the rights of girls and supporting women’s economic resilience. She shared that Beiersdorf Philippines is collaborating with Plan International Pilipinas in a project to ensure that adolescent girls have access to education and protection services.

Similarly, Mary Morrison, Senior Social Development Specialist at the World Bank, the world’s largest funder of development programs, mentioned that they provide a technical assistance program for women’s economic empowerment, funded by a trust fund from the Australian Government.

Gabrielle Imperial, Legislative Officer from the Office of Senator Risa Hontiveros, encouraged girl advocates to reach out to their office or the Philippine House Committee on Women and Gender Equality to voice their concerns. Imperial highlighted that Senator Hontiveros has sponsored two bills in the Senate that provide protective services for girls and young women in times of disaster and emergencies, and gender-responsive measures to prevent adolescent pregnancy.

“It is not every day that we are given the chance to gather and join hands for a truly noble cause, as allies who share the same goal: raising the voices of girls so that the promise of a gender-equal world will not remain just a promise but a reality,” said Locsin.

MEDIA CONTACT

For more information about Plan International Pilipinas’ programs or request for interviews, please contact:

Pauline Gutierrez

Campaigns and Youth Engagement Specialist, Plan International Pilipinas

pauline.gutierrez@plan-international.org | 09668920693

NOTES TO EDITORS

• The State of the World’s Girls Report is a publication of Plan International released annually on October 11, during the International Day of the Girl. It contains the annual, flagship research for the Girls Get Equal (GGE) campaign.

• GGE is a youth-led social change campaign championing gender equality on three fronts: equal power, freedom, and representation.

• The 26 countries included in this year’s report are Ethiopia, Jordan. Kenya, Lebanon, Malawi, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Togo, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Australia, Bangladesh, Japan, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Paraguay, Canada.

• Plan International’s methodology includes a survey of 840 female activists aged between 15 and 24, one of the largest to date. Moreover, more than 200 additional girls and young women activists took part in a series of peer-to-peer interviews led by other girls and young women activists, and 57 girls attended focus groups, bringing the total number of girls and young women involved to over a thousand respondents.

• The names of the girls and young women in this report have been changed to ensure anonymity. All research findings can be found at https://plan-international.org/publications/turning-world-around/