Girls Foundation seeks targeted investments for young women

Nana Ama Adutwumwaa, the President of Touching The Lives Of Girls Foundation (TLGF), has called for mass investments into the activities of girls to address growing gender gaps and help lift young women out of poverty.

She said challenges of the adolescent girl ranging from inequity in secondary education to protection issues required that they benefited uniquely from targeted investments and programmes that address their distinct needs.

Nana Ama Adutwumwaa, who said this in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on the International Day of the Girl Child, said investing in adolescent girls could have a ripple effect to create a better world by 2030.

The Day is celebrated annually on October 11 to highlight issues concerning gender inequality facing young girls and highlighting the unique challenges and potentials of adolescent girls.

This year's theme is: “The power of the adolescent girl: vision for 2030.”

There are nearly 600 million girls aged 10 to 19 in the world and each with limitless individual potential, however, they are disappearing from public awareness and the international development agenda, according to girl-child advocates.

Girl child rights advocates say the world's 1.1 billion girls are a source of power, energy, and creativity, and the millions of girls in emergencies are no exception.

This year's International Day of the Girl (IDG) on October 11 marks the beginning of a year-long effort to spur global attention and action to the challenges and opportunities girls face before, during, and after crises.

About 52 percent of the female population is of reproductive age and most of them are menstruating every month.

“However the majority of them have no access to clean and safe sanitary products and private space in which to change their menstrual cloth or pads and also water to wash their hands,” Nana Adutwumwaa said.

“This is a clear evidence to show that ignoring good menstruation is damaging not just women and girls directly but also for schools, business and economy.

“It is also about helping the girl child in staying in school during their monthly period rather than dropping out.

“This will ensure a generation of educated and empowered women who had access to overcome cultural taboos about menstruation and made a choice to overcome it.”

She said educating girls would enable them to grow up to be confident and strong women to lead families and community rather than being made to feel in pure and unworthy one week of every month.

Since 2012, October 11 has marked the International Day of the Girl (IDG).

The Day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls’ face, while promoting girls' empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.

The Lives of Girls International Foundation International (TGLIF) is working towards achieving gender equality and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Touching The Lives Of Girls Foundation International is a non- governmental organization that believes that with the right education and support, the girl child has the potential to lift an entire family out of the poverty and that a generation of educated girls has the power to change family, community, and society as a whole.

The Foundation embarks on a range of programmes that focus on Education, Community outreach and Health training.

“We take a genuine approach on the ground to developing integrated solutions to the complex issues of gender equality and health,” the foundation said.