The President and Chief Executive Officer of Women Deliver, Maliha Khan, has said the key to achieving gender equality lies in empowering the current generation of adolescent girls, enabling them to shape their own trajectory instead of being constrained by patriarchal norms.
She made the remarks as a participant in a plenary panel during the Girls Deliver: Pre-Conference on Adolescent Girls, held on July 16. The pre-conference is a part of the larger Women Deliver conference taking place in Kigali until July 20.
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Khan expressed her views on the primary obstacle to gender equality, highlighting the pervasive impact of patriarchy. She stated that patriarchy perpetuates the subjugation of women and girls through tactics of shaming and oppressing them, which results in circumstances that are justified under the guise of preserving tradition, leading to issues such as sexism, early pregnancy, and the deprivation of girls&039; choices, opportunities, and future prospects.
As a consequence, she noted, these limitations hinder the potential achievements of girls throughout their lives.
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Khan said Women Deliver involves girls and adolescents, forging connections with coalitions focused on adolescent girls, and ensuring their voices remain integral to the global agenda.
"Let’s stop thinking of adolescent girls as a demographic because that dehumanises them. Let’s think of them as one of our key constituents. Constituents have rights, leadership, demand and voice. We must listen to them, support them and we must allow them to take their rightful leadership position and change it,” she said.
On the plenary panel, Yosimbom Jania Ney, a teen activist from Cameroon, highlighted challenges in her country, including lack of youth-friendly funding and collaboration, calling for united efforts to address these issues.
Regarding period poverty, Ney stressed the need for funding to provide pads and other sanitary equipment for girls in need, declaring that education about sexual and reproduction health is essential, but access to proper equipment remains crucial.
Ney further urged governments to remove taxes on sanitary products to ensure every girl can access them in the long term, and called for simplified registration processes for youth-led organisations.
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Hana Brixi, Global Director for Gender Equality at the World Bank Group, emphasised the bank’s commitment to ensuring that girls can live free of violence, including genital mutilation and other harmful practices.
She also mentioned there is a need for adequate resources and innovative approaches to empower girls to drive positive change. In pursuit of this goal, she underscored the bank’s strategy of leveraging educational institutions to transform the mind-sets of boys regarding sexual and gender-based violence, fostering an understanding of its significance to girls.
Khan stressed the significance of promoting women and girls as leaders to create a more inclusive society, adding that the bank recognises the importance of investing in opportunities for girls through incentives and gentle encouragement.
Caroline Kabiru, Head of Population Dynamics and Reproductive Health at the African Population and Health Research Center, highlighted the importance of building relationships with policymakers.
This way, she said, policymakers become aware of research efforts and consider them while making decisions to empower girls.
Kabiru also stressed the need to prioritise mutual capacity-building and communicate research findings in a way that resonates with everyone. She noted that her organisation is working on engaging young girls and seeking feedback from them to ensure the research is relevant and impactful.