Why Work with Adolescent Girls?

One person in eight—or close to 900 million people—is a girl or young woman age 10–24. ^[1] Presently, Women for Women International is working with thousands of young women and adolescent girls who fall between the age range of fifteen and twenty four.

In Afghanistan and the DRC, 22% of the women we work with are under age 25; in Kosovo, roughly a quarter of the women we work with are under age 25.

The individuals who fall within this age range in Women for Women International’s programs face daily challenges - but also unique opportunities.

Who are these young women and girls?

In the West, an adolescent girl between fifteen and twenty four is still a girl. She is in school, enriching her mind and body and growing, likely, to be a healthy young woman. She has extracurricular activities, and is more worried about how to pay for college than she is about caring for children or finding food for her family.

Not so in much of the developing world. In the conflict and post-conflict zones where Women for Women International works, ages fifteen to twenty four have a completely different meaning. These girls live in a world that is more likely to involve a husband than a boyfriend, a baby than an education. For the adolescent girls we work with at Women for Women International, fifteen might as well be thirty five; these girls are already women.

What it Means to Be a Girl in the Developing World

Girls Many of these girls do not have a say about their futures. One out of seven girls in developing countries is married before age fifteen, and nearly half of all girls are married by age twenty. For younger adolescents especially, this decision is made by their families and the girls often do not have a choice. And unmarried girls don’t get a break either; girls spend 33–85 percent more time per day working at home and in unpaid market work than do boys of the same age. ^[2]

On top of this, adolescent girls in the developing world are at high risk for sexual violence and rape. Nearly half of sexual assaults worldwide are perpetrated against girls ages fifteen and younger. ^[3] Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn document this epidemic of sexual violence:

“About one third of all women worldwide face beatings in the home. Women aged 15-44 are more likely to be maimed or die from male violence than from cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, and war combined. A major study by the WHO found that in most countries, between 30-60 percent of women had experienced physical or sexual violence by a husband or boyfriend.” ^[4]

Why Women for Women International Has Been Investing in Young Women and Adolescent Girls

We work with young women and adolescent girls (age 15-24) that have been impacted by war and conflict. Many of the young women we work with have had little or no access to education or knowledge of their own rights. In Sudan, Nigeria and DRC, over 80% (and 100% in Sudan) of young women in Women for Women’s program are married. In each country we work in, at least 80% of young women have had no vocational training.

Despite the great obstacles faced by this demographic, there is also enormous opportunity. When given the right tools and resources, women and girls are uniquely positioned to leverage themselves and their families and communities out of poverty.

According to Kristof and WuDunn, "Moving women into more productive roles helps curb population growth and nurtures a sustainable society…The consequence of failing to educate girls is a capacity gap not only in billions of dollars of GNP but also in billions of IQ points."

Before Entering Women for Women International:

In Afghanistan and the DRC, 22% of the women who participate in the program are under age 25; and in Kosovo, 23% are under age 25.
In every country we work in, at least 80% of young women have had no vocational training.
In DRC, 60% of girls have malaria. Only 4% don’t suffer from any diseases.
In DRC, 13% of young women report having been raped, and 32% report being beaten; and in Sudan, 41% report being beaten.

After Graduating from the Women for Women International Program

87% of young women in Rwanda report health improvements.
In Nigeria and DRC, over 65% of women reported a better relationship with their husbands.
Afghanistan, DRC, Nigeria and Rwanda all had over 75% of young women report a better
economic situation.
94% of young women in Kosovo developed vocational skills; 80% in Afghanistan, 79% in Nigeria, and 77% in DRC.

Looking Forward: Global Development through Women and Girls

The work we do in the field teaches us not only that there is enormous work to be done, but also that there is enormous faith to be had in the future of a world where women and girls are able to contribute equally with men and boys in the development of their communities, countries and economies. Each day that a participant in Afghanistan tells us she will send her girls and her boys to school because it is their right; each day that a nineteen year old second wife in Sudan tells us how she will build a house with the money she has earned as she plants her crops; each day that an eighteen year old rape victim and mother in Congo learns to read, we know that there is hope.