Check the labels in your t-shirt drawer. Chances are, more than a few were made in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a small country next to India with a huge garment industry, where many girls and women work to produce clothes for brands that we buy on a daily basis. The Bad: Factory work can be exploitative, [...]

In her book I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, Nujood tells her story with the help of writer Delphine Minoui. Born in Yemen, Nujood was forced to marry young and was raped and abused by her new husband. “Inside of me I have been soiled, contaminated – it’s as if part of myself has [...]

“Climbing over razor wire fences, taking to sea in leaking boats or stowing away in airless containers, refugees and migrants around the world risk their lives every day in desperate attempts to find safety or a better life.” – UN High Commission for Refugees. The basics There are two types of displaced people – those [...]

Africa may seem like a world away…but despite the distance and the challenges many African girls face, they are not so different from you and I. They babysit, like this girl in Malawi They do the laundry in Benin They play it up for the camera with their friends in Niger They play team sports, like these [...]

The idea of Human Rights, and Girls’ Rights, is sometimes hard to grasp without examples, especially since our rights are so well protected in Canada. Learn more about human rights issues facing girls in 5 different countries: Democratic Republic of Congo WAR is the biggest threat to girls in the Congo in Africa. Years and [...]

“A woman is like a tea bag: you cannot tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” – Nancy Reagan In politics, women and girls have the right to be both voters and leaders. But, according to the Global Gender Gap report, not one single country in the world has gender [...]

Girls’ rights are human rights When you help a girl to access her rights, the impact doesn’t just end there with her. When a girl is educated, nourished and protected, she shares her knowledge and skills with her family and community – a girl’s involvement in education and community can change the future of a [...]

Skin bleaching is a huge industry in developing countries, like Jamaica, China and India. Did you know? Skin lightening, skin whitening or skin bleaching is “the practice of using chemical substances in an attempt to lighten skin tone or provide an even skin complexion.” Behind this skin whitening is a troubling message: that when it comes to [...]

One month after Diana Gee-Silverman joined Plan’s emergency program team, disaster struck Haiti in the form of a massive earthquake. Diana has been busy ever since. As Diana explains, Plan deals with two kinds of emergencies – ones that happen suddenly, like the Haitian earthquake, and those that are ongoing, like conflict in Sudan. I [...]

Shelter is a basic human right. Let’s travel around the world to see what ‘home’ means for girls! Laos – Children play around a traditional Laotian home on stilts. Indonesia – Two girls sit in the living room of their home built by Plan after the tsunami of 2004. India – A girl holds her [...]