'Girl power' crucial in push to achieve global development goals, says Ban in Davos

UN News Centre    Translate This Article
23 January 2014

23 January 2014 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today, in one of several key meetings he is attending in Davos, Switzerland, where the World Economic Forum is underway, called on the world to invest more to release the potential of over half a billion adolescent girls in developing countries currently held back by poverty, discrimination and violence, calling them key to achieving a crucial raft of development goals.

'Investors tend to rate opportunities based on their potential for returns,' he told a group of eminent persons from the private sector, academia, Governments and civil society dedicated to achieving the eight United Nations anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

'The United Nations gives girls a gold rating. When you invest in their future, you are guaranteed results that multiply across society—on health, education, peace and the welfare of future generations,' he said, highlighting the returns on 'girl power.'

Addressing a lunch of his MDG Advocacy Group on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, he stressed that investing in girls was vital in the 'final push for success.' Later in the day, the UN chief is expected to speak at a climate change-focused press conference alongside the President of the European Commission and the World Bank President.

The MDGs, adopted by the UN Millennium Summit of 2000 aim to slash extreme hunger and poverty, boost access to health care and education, achieve gender equality and environmental stability, reduce maternal and child mortality and the incidence of HIV/AIDS, all by the end of 2015.

'We are in a race against time. The MDG deadline is just over 700 days away,' Mr. Ban warned. 'You understand that when we give a girl better health, education and well-being, we see results far beyond that individual. A girl is as valuable to our world as a tree is to a forest. When a tree grows up straight and strong, the whole environment benefits. When a girl grows up straight and strong, her family, her community and even her country can feel the positive effects.'

Mr. Ban noted that every year a girl stays in primary school boosts her eventual wages by up to 20 per cent, and women and girls reinvest the vast majority of their income—90 per cent—back into their families. When female education goes up, so does economic growth. 'Today I urge you to keep girls at the centre of all of your strategies,' he declared, stressing that this is more than a philanthropic issue. 'This is a challenge to do business better. It is a chance to change your institutions so they reflect more enlightened attitudes about girls and include strategies to improve their lives...

'When we support girls, they reward society with enormous contributions in creativity, compassion and—yes—girl power.'

Mr. Ban set up the Group in 2010 to help him build political will and mobilize global action to achieve the MDGs. It is currently co-chaired by Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

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