Saturday, May 18, 2013

Uniting To Lift The Girl Up

By Kathryn Neal


United Nations Foundation is behind the girl up initiative. The foundation seeks to enable American girls to identify with world issues and lead from the front. The girls highlight programs initiated by United Nations and support them using their passion and energy. Most of the programs are geared towards uplifting the lives of adolescent girls around the world.

The vision guiding the initiative is to ensure that all girls, regardless of their geographical location, should be educated, safe, counted, healthy and possess the ability to take over leadership. The challenge for this initiative is to reach over 600 million adolescent girls especially in developing countries. Their challenges are unique and can only be overcome through collective effort.

The girls are gifted, bright and with big dreams about their lives. Their circumstances make it impossible for them to reach their potential. Their needs are basic like attending school. Basic healthcare services are a problem. They would like to contribute towards developing their community but do not have the opportunity.

Each day is a challenge for the girls and the situation only gets worse without external support. They do not enroll in formal education institutions and end up in early marriages. This means that the girls become mothers at a tender age and are trapped in the cycle of poverty. The entrapment is repeated when the same fate befalls a daughter just as it did to the mother.

American girls become a part of the solution by getting involved in such initiatives. Girls are givers, they talk and get involved through natural instincts. They understand the needs of their age mates miles away, they read about them and can identify with global issues. This has ignited their desire to do something to help the girls out.

People can get involved in a number of ways. Inviting friends and family members and making them aware of the existence of such a movement is one of the ways. The girlafesto campaign is driven by individual spreading the word on the issues and encouraging colleagues, friends and relatives to take personal initiative.

Reading more about the events and the campaign is another way. This information is available from the website and can be downloaded. The organization uploads resources on the activities that can change the lives of these girls. There are walks, concerts and fund raisers that people can participate. The aim is to ensure that the issues are addressed in as many forums as possible. This will keep them on the foreground.

Supporting the campaign in aid of girls worldwide also takes the form of purchasing branded merchandise. These are tops and t-shirt with target message, caps, jerseys and other attire. The funds raised from such ventures support a club in one of the target countries. Corporate sponsors are welcome to take part in this initiative.

Individuals can take part in the girl up campaign by petitioning their leaders to take the right stand. This is through legislation and international advocacy. This will elevate the campaign to a global issue and will change the lives of children facing the potential misfortune of being married off by the age of fifteen.




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