Girl in Bangladesh embroidering cloth. Photo Credit: Plan Canada

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, with girls working for long hours and in bad conditions. Discrimination against women still exists and can lead to unfair wages or girls not having control over their earnings. Often, girls are still expected to do a disproportionate amount of housework when they get home from work, compared to the boys in their family. Work is also a problem when it interferes with education.

“In the Bangladeshi garment industry, a big employer of young women, work days are 10 to 12 hours long, factory buildings are often overcrowded, congested and poorly ventilated; and garment workers are regularly exposed to toxic dyes, fibre
particles, and dust.” – Because I am a Girl Report 2009

The Good: Girls in the garment industry in Bangladesh have an unprecedented opportunity to earn money for themselves and their families. Their work helps them gain skills and independence. Girls are also advocating for themselves by forming unions and being leaders in the workplace.

We are connected to girls in Bangladesh through the clothes we wear. There is no easy answer to whether we should continue to buy clothes from Bangladesh, given what we know about these working conditions. If we boycott the clothes, girls will lose the hard won gains that they have made in the industry. If we fail to act, conditions won’t improve.

From my perspective, the answer is to support girls in the workforce to help them assert their rights to a safe and healthy working environment, fair wages, and freedom from exploitation.

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 been stolen from me,” said Nujood.

The law in Yemen at the time made it illegal for anyone under the age of 15 to be married, but it happens often – almost half of all girls are married under the legal age.

When she was sent to buy bread from the market one day, Nujood found her way to the court, where she demanded a divorce from the judge.

Today, Nujood’s life is different, but what I learned from reading her book (and you should read it too!) is that many things in Nujood’s life echo the girls’ rights issues we talk about here on the blog all the time:

Lack of education: Nujood was forced to leave school when she got married, leaving her mostly illiterate. Since her divorce she has been able to go back to school but still faces obstacles to attending school regularly.

Unregistered: Nujood was not registered when she was born – she has no identity papers that allow her to access her rights as a Yemeni citizen. Without records of her citizenship, it was challenging for her to fight for her rights to a divorce.

Poverty: Nujood’s brothers and sisters faced many challenges as well, and the book goes into more details about these stories. For example, they often had to go out and beg in the street for food and money to help the family put dinner on the table every night.

Lack of safety and support: Once she had escaped her husband, there was no place for Nujood to find safety – there are no shelters for girls in similar situations.

In order to access their rights, girls must have all these things in their life: education, safety, a way out of poverty, identity papers and knowledge about their rights. Most important, they need to have a VOICE to take action when something isn’t right, just like Nujood.

Nujood’s story is just one of many little girls who are married young. But sadly, Nujood’s story is special because she was one of the few who was able to escape.“In Khardji, the village where I was born, women are not taught to make choices,” says Nujood. “In our country, it’s the men who give the orders, and the women who follow them.”

During Nujood’s quest for divorce, she met several women including lawyers, professors and journalists that live very different lives than other women in Yemen, working in powerful jobs and fighting for women’s rights. Seeing these role models has helped her determine her own goals – Nujood wants to become a lawyer and help other girls like her. But for now, Nujood just wants to be herself:

“Today I finally feel that I’ve become a little girl again. A normal little girl. Like before. I’m just me.”

To learn more about Nujood and other child brides like her, check out this slideshow: Too Young to Wed.

Don’t forget to put I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced on your summer reading list – stay tuned for more of our recommendations later this week!

What are your summer reading recommendations?

Angen (21) holds the baby she gave birth to while fleeing violence in the Ivory Coast. Photo Credit: Plan Canada

“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 that have to leave their country (refugees) and those who have to move from their homes but remain in their own country (internally displaced people).

Today we’re talking about refugees.

Did you know? Not all refugees live in camps. For example, Canada admits thousands of refugees every year who build new lives for themselves in cities around the country.

Why do refugees leave their homes?

• Fleeing persecution, conflict and violence
• Seeking employment or educational opportunities
• Want to reunite with family members

On the move

Leaving a country as a refugee can be dangerous – refugees often leave without official documentation (like a passport or visa). They may use unauthorized border crossing points or seek the help of smugglers to get into a new country. The only escape route may involve inhumane conditions or leave refugee girls open to exploitation and abuse.

Angen, a 21 year old refugee from the Ivory Coast who is now in Liberia, was nearing her due date when violence in her community forced her to flee. Her baby girl was born during the family’s escape, with only the help of her nine year old daughter. After giving birth, Angen had to walk for several more days through jungle and swamp with her newborn to safety.

After the escape

Reaching the border doesn’t always mean that a refugee has reached safety. It may be a challenge to cross the border and enter the country legally, so many girls and their families enter their new country illegally out of desperation. Without legal documentation, girls are open to exploitation and are often unable to access education, healthcare or employment.

Despite the relative safety of Liberia, Angen is finding it hard to put food on the table for her three children. She is staying with a local farmer who is putting up more than 40 refugees. And like several other refugees in the same village, Angen has not heard from her husband who stayed behind in the Ivory Coast.

To learn more about girls in refugee camps, check out: A Girl’s Life: Living in a Refugee Camp.

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 girls in Ghana

They get involved in extracurricular activities in Zambia

They spend time with their family in Kenya

They’re proud of their accomplishments, like this girl displaying plants from her school’s garden in Burkina Faso

They speak up about their rights in Cameroon

How many of these activities do you identify with? Do you think life is so different in Africa as compared to Canada for girls?

All photos care of Plan 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 years of fighting have seen girls and women caught in the cross-fire. Just living in this country is a threat to personal safety!

Girl in Cuba. Photo Credit: WikiCommons

Cuba

Some girls are prisoners in their own countries! Special permission from the government is needed by Cuba’s citizens, including girls and women, to leave the country. This is against girls’ right of freedom of movement, including the right to leave and return to a country.

Saudi Arabia

If you are a woman in Saudi Arabia, then you are STILL fighting for your right to VOTE! This is a violation of the right to take part in the government of their country – THIS right has been recorded in the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

Girl at school in Afghanistan. Photo Credit: WikiCommons

Afghanistan

Going to a school for girls in Afghanistan can potentially be a death sentence. Did you know – Between March and October 2010, 20 schools were attacked and 126 students were killed. This action is a direct attack on the right to education for both boys and girls, but because the targets are often girls’ schools, girls are disproportionately affected.

India

Many girls in India do not marry for LOVE; families often arrange marriages and girls can be married as young as 5-years-old.

Girl from Udaipur, India. Photo credit: Plan Canada

Despite the fact that India eliminated the caste class system, “honour” killings of women and girls continue if a family is shamed or humiliated by the actions of a daughter. One of the main reasons for these killings is when a girl marries someone outside of her caste (social class or social circle) or religion. This is a violation of a girl’s right to marry “without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion.”

Learn more about early marriage customs and traditions in this National Geographic photo story: Child Brides: Too Young to Wed.

Girls’ rights are being violated – this is why girls need a special attention. The Because I am a Girl campaign will continue to fight for girls’ rights!

Women vote in Bangladesh Credit: WikiCommons

“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 equality in politics.

To understand political equality between men and women in a country, we need to ask three important questions:

Do women in that country have the right to vote?

In most countries in the world, women officially have the right to vote, but not everywhere.

For example, girls and women in Saudi Arabia are campaigning right now to have the right to vote in elections scheduled for September. You can follow their campaign on twitter: #saudiwomenrevolution.

Even if they officially have the right to vote, are they able to access that right to the same extent that men do?

Just because women’s right to vote exists in a country does NOT mean that women are equally able to put that right into action. Girls are often marginalized from the voting process because they don’t know their rights. Girls with better education, more freedom to be out of the house, and more income are more likely to be able to exercise their right to vote.

Youth participating at a Constitution Court in South America for the application of children’s rights in the Colombia legislation. Photo care of Plan Canada

Are women represented equally in the government?

Women aren’t just voters, they’re also leaders. Part of political empowerment of women is making sure that women are in decision making roles, such as country leaders, ministers, and members of parliament. Sadly, there is no where in the world where this kind of gender equality exists.

Did you know that Sri Lanka is the 6th best country in the world for political empowerment for women? That beats Canada by 30 countries! Other countries with high rankings include Mozambique, Bangladesh and Nicaragua.

How are you going to help girls get more involved in politics? Are you going to be a leader or a voter?

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 nation.

Feed a girl – she’ll feed everyone around her.

Fact: The nutrition a girl receives as a child will affect the health of her own child when she becomes a mother. A girl with years of bad nutrition and health care can have serious problems in adolescence and into womanhood.

“Discrimination against the girl child in her access to nutrition and physical and mental health services endangers her current and future health and that of her children. An estimated 450 million adult women in developing countries are stunted as a result of childhood protein-energy malnutrition.” - The Declaration from the Beijing Women’s Conference in 1995.

Did you know? Money raised from the Because I am a Girl campaign is used to make sure that girls have a nutritious meal each day at school, and also have something to take home.

Keep a girl healthy – she’ll protect the health of her entire family.

Fact: Girls and boys face different health issues, not just because they are physiologically different, but because of their status in society. While physically girls are often more resilient than boys, the way they are treated from birth in comparison with their brothers often leaves them at a disadvantage.

For example, in households where boys are more highly valued that girls, boys often eat before the girls. Whatever is left over goes to the girls. Without nutritional equality, girls aren’t able to reach their full potential.

Did you know? Money raised from the Because I am a Girl campaign is used to build health centres.

Educate a girl – she’ll break the cycle of poverty.

Fact: Education leads to…

• a higher income
• smaller, healthier families
• reduced risk of HIV
• more involvement in politics and decision making

“Education helps you see what is wrong with the world and gives you the confidence to question it.” - Bhanwari, 20 years old, India

Did you know? Money raised from the Because I am a Girl campaign is used for building schools, providing scholarships and supporting vocational training?

Empower a girl – she’ll change the world.

Fact: Young women put back 90% of their income into their household, but men only give back 30-40%. By directing the money they earn back into the household, girls can help their families to stay healthy, secure and educated.

Did you know? Money raised from the Because I am a Girl campaign is used to ensure that girls get registered at birth and help them to start their own businesses.

Girls are the answer. And so are you!

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 skin, lighter is somehow better.

Media messages, advertisements, cultural ideals of beauty can put extreme pressure on girls and women to resort to extreme measures to get a ‘fair skinned’ look.

Skin colour = status

Traditionally, in the caste system in India, lighter skin signified higher status. Even though the system has officially been abolished, some stereotypes still remain. Having lighter skin is seen to help girls get farther in life, like getting a better job or finding a better husband.

Same goes in China where women seek “flawlessly milky skin.” Darker skin was connected with working outside in the fields, while society’s “elite” could afford to stay indoors.

Health concerns

Pressure to change our bodies can sometimes be dangerous – skin whitening creams for the whole body haven’t been approved in Canada because of concerns that they can lead to skin cancer.

Girls in developing countries who can’t afford the luxury creams will sometimes even use home-made concoctions of bleach and other chemicals to lighten their skin.

Happy in your own skin

Girls around the world struggle with society’s message about the perfect body and the perfect skin. When girls aren’t happy in their own skin, they resort to sometimes dangerous measures to change themselves. The damage isn’t just skin deep, though – the desire for light skin also affects girls’ self esteem and self worth.

We want every girl to be able to say:

Because I am a Girl, I am comfortable in my own skin.

What’s your message for girls around the world who are struggling with accepting how they look?

Diana in Sudan with women using a fuel efficient stove

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 had the chance to catch up with Diana and ask her about the current situation in Sudan, and also what it’s like to work as a program manager in emergencies. Here’s what she had to say:

KJ: You used to live in Sudan when it was one country – can you give a quick summary about the referendum and upcoming split?

DGS: In January 2011, Sudan’s citizens voted to divide their country into two brand new countries: South Sudan and North Sudan. The decision to split came as a result of years of conflict between the two halves of Africa’s largest country. The split will become official on July 9, 2011.

KJ: What do you think this means for the country and its people?

DGS: It will mean more displaced people on both sides. Southerners living in the North will move back to the South, and vice versa. Even though people are heading back to where they came from, if they haven’t been there for a while it might mean that they don’t have the support structures that they need.

South Sudan has extremely limited infrastructure. For example, people have been on the run for so long that farmer’s fields have been left uncultivated. In a conflict situation, there are obstacles to planting and harvesting food. People are concerned that they may be pushed off their land at any time, or that if they do try to grow crops they will be taken away.

Did you know: South Sudan, roughly the size of France, has only 50 kilometers of paved roads and almost no public electrical power. It also lacks public water and sanitation systems.

KJ: Sudan is often in media as country at war and in deep internal conflict – do you have another side of the country and people to share?

DGS: Years of conflict have made people very resilient. They still lead lives…they get married, have families and raise kids. You can’t say that they are normal lives – that wouldn’t be true, but they still have lives. Kids still have fun, they still play soccer on the street.

KJ: What do you think it would be like to grow up as a girl in Sudan from your experience living there?

DGS: I don’t know! It’s so far removed from my experience. I’ve got two master’s degrees and I’ve been in 50 different countries. I grew up in a country that has health care, I was vaccinated as a child, I never was forced to leave my home. It’s like apples and oranges. I couldn’t imagine what life would be like for one of the people staying in the displacement camps. It’s hard to put my feet in their shoes.

KJ: What was your experience personally as a woman living in Sudan?

DGS: It’s very different for me being a foreign woman, compared to the lives of local women. As an educated woman in Sudan there is more freedom to work, to be out of the house, to live the life they want.

KJ: Can you tell me a little bit about your role as an NGO worker overseas? What does that really mean?

DGS: I’m not a nurse, not a doctor, not an engineer, but as a program manager what I do allows these kinds of people to get their job done. There are always delays and things don’t go your way, but the most important thing is to be flexible and just roll with whatever happens.

The job allows me to experience lots of different places and learn bits and pieces of new languages. But, there are also challenges. It’s hard to maintain relationships with friends and family, and I miss stuff like lattes and movie theatres.

Diana’s Top 3 Tips for getting involved in emergency work:

• Read LOTS: Anything you can get your hands on, including newspapers, books and novels.
• Volunteer: At the beginning, Diana had to work two jobs to afford to go overseas.
• Do your homework: Before you head overseas, learn as much as possible about the organization you’re going with. Make sure that it is well recognized and respected.

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 younger sister in the shanty town where they live.

Liberia – Woman refugees prepare a meal inside small shelter after fleeing from fighting in the Ivory Coast.

Haiti – A woman shows off her new transitional shelter, one of 100 built by Plan in Croix-Des-Bouquets during Haiti’s rebuilding period.

Nepal – A girls’ dorm for ex-Kamalari girls rescued from domestic slavery.

Peru – A family stands infront of their new house, built with funds from their Plan sponsor.

Tell us, what does your dream house look like and where in the world do you want to live?

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