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Empower a girl and she'll change the world.
It's an important message of Because I am a Girl and there are so many reasons why.
In this empower episode, we'll explore how Plan works in developing countries
to unleash the power of girls.
And we'll look at how girls in Canada are being empowered too.
Empowering a girl starts the day she is born.
Millions of girls across the world have no record of their birth because they
weren't registered.
Without birth certificates, girls are left invisible
and vulnerable to all kinds of risks including trafficking
and forced child marriage. No birth certificate can mean no access
to their basic human rights. Birth registration empowers girls.
Girls like Shahida from Bangladesh. Her birth certificate proved she was too young to
be married at
15.
Count me in.
Shahida is one of the 40 million who've benefited from Plans global birth
registration program.
In Bangladesh, we work to get birth certificates for newborns
and older girls too. In Paraguay, Plans
right to identity program has given official status to 300,000 people
in 18 months. And in just 20 days
in Rajistan, India, Plan helped register the birth
of close to 50,000 children in rural villages.
To unleash their full potential, girls also need economic security.
Plan works with community partners to help girls access skills training
and business loans to increase their income. In this vocational training
centre
girls are trained in industrial sewing and electronics manufacturing.
This can lead directly to a job, breaking the cycle of total dependence on others.
In this mine community in Guatemala, Plan works with a bank, providing loans to
help women weave textiles to sell.
The project includes business training and helps women provide for themselves
and their families. And from Zimbabwe this great story shows how much a girl
can do
when she is empowered. With the help of Plan child sponsorship
Yeukai went from being a girl with limited means in a rural community
to an award-winning lawyer who is now changing the world for others.
Yeukai tells her own powerful story in her own words on our website.
Also on our website
see what girls in Canada can achieve when they're empowered.
Girls like Saba, who shared our message at the United Nations
and the five hundred girls from the Toronto District School Board
who gathered together on International Women's Day with their mentors
to celebrate the power of girls and women. Have you ever mentored a girl?
We shared a great mentoring conversation on Facebook
about girls empowering girls. You can join us to make a difference by
empowering girls here,
and across the world. Give a birth certificate with this great gift of hope.
Sponsor a girl and see her blossom like Yeukai.
Or join the Facebook and Twitter conversation and share your thoughts on
empowerment.
And remember, girls are the answer
and so are you.