 One person in eight is a girl or young woman 10 to 24 years old. Young people are the fastest growing segment of the population in developing countries, and their welfare is a fundamental input for key economic and social outcomes -- including the size and competitiveness of tomorrow's labor force, future economic growth, improved governance, and healthy civil societies.
But girls in developing countries are in trouble. They face systematic disadvantages over a wide range of welfare indicators, including health, education, nutrition, labor force participation, and the burden of household tasks. Because of deprivation and discriminatory cultural norms, many poor girls are forced to marry at very young ages and are extraordinarily vulnerable to HIV, sexual violence, and physical exploitation. Lacking a full range of economic opportunities and devalued because of gender bias, many girls are seen as unworthy of investment or protection by their families.
Building on work for the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Education and Gender Equality, and work on global health and demographic change, the Center for Global Development teamed up with the Population Council and the International Center for Research on Women to:
- Summarize evidence about the importance of girls and young women within economic and social development;
- Recommend effective investments that will give adolescent girls in developing countries a full and equal chance for rewarding lives and livelihoods;
- Provide the rationale and policy roadmap necessary to mobilize such support from national governments, donors, private sector and civil society; and,
- Inform the public about ways in which we can all contribute to improving the situation of adolescent girls in poor countries.
Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda Report
 The wellbeing of adolescent girls in developing countries shapes global economic and social prosperity -- yet girls' needs often are consigned to the margins of development policies and programs. This new report describes why and how to provide adolescent girls in developing countries a full and equal chance in life. Offering targeted recommendations for national and local governments, donor agencies, civil society, and the private sector, Girls Count provides a compelling starting point for country-specific agendas to recognize and foster girls' potential. Learn More
Girls Count Report Co-authors
Margaret Greene (ICRW), Cynthia Lloyd (Population Council), Caren Grown (American University)
Girls Count is a three-year initiative generously co-funded by the Nike Foundation and the UN Foundation’s Better World Fund.
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Selected Works
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Improving adolescent girls’ health and wellbeing is critical to achieving virtually all international development goals. Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health shows why doing so is a global must and identifies eight priorities for international action.
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Join us as we launch CGD's newest report, Start With A Girl: A New Agenda For Global Health. The report, supported by the Nike Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is a complement to the 2008 publication, Girls Count: An Action and Investment Agenda, and is part of a series of...
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CCG launched the Start With A Girl: A New Agenda For Global Health report on October 7, 2009. In this video of the event, Ambassador of Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer described the Obama administration's commitment to girls' wellbeing in developing countries, including the State...
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In a pathbreaking follow-up to the 2008 report Girls Count, Miriam Temin and CGD vice president Ruth Levine shed light on the reality of girls’ health worldwide and its enormous on the wellbeing and productivity of girls, their families, and their nations. Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for...
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CGD vice president Ruth Levine suggests specific actions for the Obama administration to take for the impact of the White House Council on Women and Girls to extend beyond U.S. borders.
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Sponsored by the World Bank InfoShop, PREM Gender and Development Group, HDN Children and Youth Unit, and Y2Y
Chaired by
Mayra Buvinic
Sector Director, Gender and Development, World Bank
Presented by Authors
Ruth Levine
Vice President for Programs and Operations & Senior Fellow, Center...
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The wellbeing of adolescent girls has a decisive impact on developing countries' current and future economic and social prosperity, but girls' needs remain at the margins of global development policies and programs. Why should we pay more attention to girls? What difference can adolescent girls...
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The wellbeing of adolescent girls in developing countries shapes global economic and social prosperity -- yet girls' needs often are consigned to the margins of development policies and programs. This new report describes why and how to provide adolescent girls in developing countries a full and...
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Girls have achieved remarkable increases in primary schooling over the past decade, yet millions are still not in school. In Inexcusable Absence, CGD visiting fellows Maureen Lewis and Marlaine Lockheed reported the startling new finding that nearly three-quarters of out-of-school girls belong to...
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Remarkable increases in primary schooling over the past decade have brought gender equity to the education systems of many poor countries. But some 60 million girls are still not attending school. In this CGD brief, non-resident fellow Maureen Lewis and visiting fellow Marlaine Lockheed explain...
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In a pathbreaking follow-up to the 2008 report Girls Count, Miriam Temin and CGD vice president Ruth Levine shed light on the reality of girls’ health worldwide and its enormous on the wellbeing and productivity of girls, their families, and their nations. Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for...
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The wellbeing of adolescent girls in developing countries shapes global economic and social prosperity -- yet girls' needs often are consigned to the margins of development policies and programs. This new report describes why and how to provide adolescent girls in developing countries a full and...
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Girls' education is widely recognized as crucial to development. Yet there has been surprisingly little hardheaded analysis about what is keeping girls out of school, and how to overcome these barriers. In Inexcusable Absence, Maureen Lewis and Marlaine Lockheed present new research showing that...
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Girls have achieved remarkable increases in primary schooling over the past decade, yet millions are still not in school. In Inexcusable Absence, CGD visiting fellows Maureen Lewis and Marlaine Lockheed reported the startling new finding that nearly three-quarters of out-of-school girls belong to...
-
Improving adolescent girls’ health and wellbeing is critical to achieving virtually all international development goals. Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health shows why doing so is a global must and identifies eight priorities for international action.
-
Remarkable increases in primary schooling over the past decade have brought gender equity to the education systems of many poor countries. But some 60 million girls are still not attending school. In this CGD brief, non-resident fellow Maureen Lewis and visiting fellow Marlaine Lockheed explain...
-
CGD vice president Ruth Levine suggests specific actions for the Obama administration to take for the impact of the White House Council on Women and Girls to extend beyond U.S. borders.
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CGD senior fellow and director of programs Ruth Levine has urged the U.S. Congress to push for independent evaluation of development assistance. In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Levine said that independent impact evaluation is crucial for ensuring that the billions of...
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Join us as we launch CGD's newest report, Start With A Girl: A New Agenda For Global Health. The report, supported by the Nike Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is a complement to the 2008 publication, Girls Count: An Action and Investment Agenda, and is part of a series of...
-
The wellbeing of adolescent girls has a decisive impact on developing countries' current and future economic and social prosperity, but girls' needs remain at the margins of global development policies and programs. Why should we pay more attention to girls? What difference can adolescent girls...
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Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health (Brief)
- Aug 16, 2010
Improving adolescent girls’ health and wellbeing is critical to achieving virtually all international development goals. Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health shows why doing so is a global must and identifies eight priorities for international action.
-
Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health
- Oct 5, 2009
In a pathbreaking follow-up to the 2008 report Girls Count, Miriam Temin and CGD vice president Ruth Levine shed light on the reality of girls’ health worldwide and its enormous on the wellbeing and productivity of girls, their families, and their nations. Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for...
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Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda
- Jan 14, 2008
The wellbeing of adolescent girls in developing countries shapes global economic and social prosperity -- yet girls' needs often are consigned to the margins of development policies and programs. This new report describes why and how to provide adolescent girls in developing countries a full and...
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Exclusion, Gender and Education: Case Studies from the Developing World
- Sep 24, 2007
Girls have achieved remarkable increases in primary schooling over the past decade, yet millions are still not in school. In Inexcusable Absence, CGD visiting fellows Maureen Lewis and Marlaine Lockheed reported the startling new finding that nearly three-quarters of out-of-school girls belong to...
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Ruth Levine calls for independent impact evaluation of aid in Senate testimony
- Mar 28, 2006
CGD senior fellow and director of programs Ruth Levine has urged the U.S. Congress to push for independent evaluation of development assistance. In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Levine said that independent impact evaluation is crucial for ensuring that the billions of...
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Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health
- Oct 7, 2009
Join us as we launch CGD's newest report, Start With A Girl: A New Agenda For Global Health. The report, supported by the Nike Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is a complement to the 2008 publication, Girls Count: An Action and Investment Agenda, and is part of a series of...
-
Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda
- May 27, 2008
Sponsored by the World Bank InfoShop, PREM Gender and Development Group, HDN Children and Youth Unit, and Y2Y
Chaired by
Mayra Buvinic
Sector Director, Gender and Development, World Bank
Presented by Authors
Ruth Levine
Vice President for Programs and Operations & Senior Fellow, Center...
-
Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda
- Jan 30, 2008
The wellbeing of adolescent girls has a decisive impact on developing countries' current and future economic and social prosperity, but girls' needs remain at the margins of global development policies and programs. Why should we pay more attention to girls? What difference can adolescent girls...
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Women & War: Images of Gender and Conflict in a Tumultuous World
- Jun 22, 2004
CGD is honored to present Women & War, photographer Jenny Matthews’ poignant visual diary of women workers, caregivers and mediators living in areas of extreme conflict. The photographs illuminate faces of suffering, strength, and perseverance-from Afghanistan to Chechnya, Ethiopia to Sierra...
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