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There's a critical window of opportunity
in a girl's life, and even in a boy's life, and that time is
really, I think, between the ages of 12 to 17.
And during that age
period there's a number of choices
that girls make, or families make on behalf of girls, that affect
their future life outcomes, health outcomes.
The research does show that you get a multiplier effect when you invest
in girls versus boys. You literally see an impact on the country's GDP when you
invest in girls. You also have that multiplier effect that she passes on
her learnings to her children.
There needs to be a concerted effort to reach girls, otherwise they're going to be missed.
Programs have been focused on children really look at children zero to five,
women's programs really focused on women, and youth programs predominantly served
older boys.
Mercy Corps tends to work in places where
there are not a lot of other actors, and the situation for girls is really
deplorable, like the Somalias, the Afghanistans,
the Iraqs. That's where the situation for girls is very difficult
and I think we have an obligation
and the ability given our teams on the ground to really
impact change for girls in a positive way.