‘Adolescent Girls Should Never Be a Battleground in War,’ Deputy Secretary-General Tells High-Level Forum
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks at the High-Level Forum on Adolescent Girls and the 2030 Agenda, in New York today:
First of all, thank you very much to the organizers of this important event. More and more leaders and people around the world appreciate the role of adolescent girls and of the importance of focusing on and dealing with their situation.
Let me at the outset pay tribute to them for their bravery and integrity in the face of flagrant injustice and discrimination.
Some examples:
It should not take an act of courage to go to school. But in too many parts of the world, girls risk their lives just to attend class.
A girl should not be forced to marry so young that her body is not ready for reproduction. But too many are engaged to be married when they, in fact, should be learning to read.
Adolescent girls should never be a battleground in war. But we know that in conflicts, girls are raped with the intention of humiliating, demoralizing and breaking the whole community.
The girls — who are subjected to poverty, early marriage, female genital mutilation, abuse and other violations — hold great potential for progress in their countries and in our world. Studies show that the longer girls stay in school, the more they can earn, the smaller the families they choose to have, the better society will be. Each year of secondary schooling increases girls’ future wages by up to 20 per cent. When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 per cent of it into their families; that is two or three times as much as men do.
The United Nations has had a mandate for gender equality since the day we were founded. The opening lines of our Charter commit us to “the equal rights of men and women”. And now we have a new, monumental push for equality with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Sustainable Development Goals commit us to giving all girls all the opportunities they deserve on their path to adulthood. The Goals aim to ensure access to sexual and reproductive health information and services. This helps avoid unwanted pregnancy and stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
Under the Sustainable Development Goals, females are to be spared genital mutilation which causes so much lasting damage. Girls must also be protected from other harmful traditional practices. The Goals call for high-quality education for girls. They should also have a voice in decisions that affect them and their lives. We should not only work for young people – we should also work with them. They should be subject — not objects.
When we achieve progress for girls, we will see advances across all of society. That is why this is more than an issue for women — it is a challenge for humanity. Here, I would like to say that I am encouraged by the many men who have taken up this cause. The HeForShe campaign has brought millions of men and boys into our campaign for gender equality.
UNFPA [United Nations Fund for Population Fund] and UNICEF [United Nations Children’s Fund] have just launched a Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage. Their Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation has helped push communities which are home to 12 million people to abandon the practice.
The Secretary-General’s UNiTE campaign is mobilizing millions of people to end the pandemic of violence against women and girls. Now, countries are rallying around the Sustainable Development Goals to realize a life of dignity for all, in particular all the world’s women and girls.
In closing, let me tell you about a young woman in Haiti who works as a mechanic. When she chose her career, many people told her she as a woman was not up to the job. But she persisted. She knew women could do any job a man could. Finally, she was able to get a job repairing buses, which she did very well. She simply said, “When I find problems, I try to find solutions” — whether it is on the job market or on a bus under repair.
We know enough about the problems facing the world’s adolescent girls. Let us take inspiration from the many women and girl heroes among them and find solutions. When we do, we will see progress in bringing together the imperatives of peace, development and human rights. Our adolescent girls can help lead the charge to a new future.
Thank you.