Plan UK Announces the Launch of ‘Girls Without Voices’

Posted on November 17, 2009
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Plan UK today marks the launch of its major Christmas campaign, Girls Without Voices (http://www.girlswithoutvoices.org), with new research finding that British women wish they’d taken more advantage of what the UK education system has to offer.

Further findings have also revealed that women in the UK believe their schooling has a direct link to how they are valued in society with almost three in five saying it is the key to earning respect. A further two thirds suggested that education is the defining factor in gender equality when climbing the career ladder. A huge proportion of the country (88 per cent) also cites that a good education ultimately will lead you to a happier life.

Plan’s UK research launches Girls Without Voices - a campaign to encourage people to Sponsor a Girl (http://planukpromotions.org/sponsor-a-girl.html) in some of the world’s poorest countries, to raise their status in their communities and to give them a better chance of going to school.

The research highlights that what is an undervalued right here in the UK, is still a dream for many young girls in the developing world. In some of the world’s poorest countries, there are 43 million girls out of education.

Celebrities including Kathy Lette and Beverley Knight are keen to back this awareness campaign.

Kathy Lette, bestselling author, commented: “We need to get educated on the importance of education. It’s time girls were not imminent but eminent intellectuals.”

She added: “The leading cause of death for girls between 15 and 19 in the developing world is pregnancy. How to break the cycle - the menstrual cycle? Education. Education means women get treated as equals instead of sequels.”

An extra year of education can increase a girls earning capacity by 10 - 20% per annum. Plan has also revealed that in Kenya alone, GBP2 billion could be added to the economy if the country educated its girls to secondary school level.

Plan UK’s Chief Executive, Marie Staunton, says: “We sometimes forget how lucky we are in this country. We take it as a given that we will go to school and receive a full education. In the developing world, girls in particular, are not this lucky. By sponsoring a girl (http://www.plan-uk.org/becauseiamagirl/sponsoragirl/) in the developing world you can help remove them from a life on the sidelines, a life of missed opportunities.”

http://www.yachtchartersmagazine.com/node/1189072