Looking Back and Moving Forward

As we near the end of 2013, it is important to reflect on the progress we have made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, especially number three (to promote gender equality and empowerment), and to look ahead at the work that is still left to do-work that our generation can play a role in. This is an issue that affects all of us; regardless or where we live, what we believe in, how old we are or even whether we are male or female. While one person can make a difference, we need everyone on board to support the barriers that are still left to break down.

Below is a look into some of the progress we have made to fight gender inequality and the incredibly young women (and men!) who have made it happen!

The other Malalas: girl activists in the developing world

Adolescent girls: a look back at 2013

Girl Up and You! 

 

 

Sharing my Spark

What is your question? The question that motivates you, that you are perpetually exploring and that sparks you to action?

I had the opportunity to share my ever-evolving question and the initial spark from which it formed at TEDxYouth@Hewitt on November 16, 2013, one of the 100 TEDx events that took place around the world in honor of Universal Children’s Day. It was an inspiring day full of speakers and performers around the world highlighted the extraordinary power, wisdom, and potential of young people. It sparked a global conversation that I hope is only the beginning!

Check out my talk below!

Thoughtful Thursday

“There was a time when women asked men to stand up for womens’ rights. This time we will do it for ourselves.”– Malala Yousafzai

In honor of the second annual International Day of the Girl tomorrow, I thought I would feature two quotes by Malala for “Thoughtful Thursday.” Throughout the course of Girl Up’s #11daysofaction leading up to tomorrow, it has been incredible to witness the power of our generation.  Malala has helped mobilize teens everywhere  to take a stand against the inequalities girls face around the world and to help send them to school. It’s clear that this is an issue that it is important to so many people around the world, and we must continue to raise awareness and our voices until all girls have a pen in hand ready to take on the world.

 

Empower, Advocate, and Celebrate With 11DaysofAction

It’s that time of year. In addition to the lower temperature and the changing color of leaves, October brings with it stress about school work, exams, projects, and maybe for some even college applications. It’s easy to get carried away with the hustle and bustle of our own lives and be blinded by our every day struggles.

However, October is also a time to shine a light on the challenges that 600 million adolescent girls living in developing countries face every day just to have the opportunity to go to school, be healthy, stay safe from violence and above all, just be a girl. Girl Up is a campaign of the United Nations Foundation that mobilizes teens to raise awareness and funds for girls in developing countries and beginning today is celebrating the second International Day of the Girl with 11 Days of Action.

Around the world, girls are forced to overcome obstacles that are bigger than we can even imagine here in the U.S. We have all seen the staggering statistics too many times. In places like Ethiopia, one in five girls is married before the age of 15. In Guatemala, only 5 percent of indigenous girls have completed primary school, and only one in 10 girls is enrolled in secondary school. This is our chance to give them a platform and a microphone so that they can raise their voices and say, “I matter and so does she.”

We need you to join the movement! October 11 and the days leading up to it is our time to tell that world that girls everywhere count. According to the United Nations, International Day of the Girl will “help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls’ lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential.”

Girl Up is asking that starting tomorrow, we follow an action each day leading up to October 11th. It is essential that we all play a role in raising awareness and sharing our sisters’ stories. In addition to raising awareness and funds through these days of action, promoting advocacy is a very important part in creating concrete change in the lives of girls everywhere. We each have unique strengths, passions, and networks that we each can mobilize to call attention to these issues.

There is so much you can do! Here are some of the daily actions you can take, but to see the full eleven days of action, please visit 11daysofaction.org:

Day 1: Hang up posters raising awareness about the issues.

Day 2: Make an announcement in your school’s town hall or assembly to continue to spread awareness and get the whole student body to play a role in the day.

Day 3: Donate a photo with the Johnson & Johnson Donate a Photo app, so that you can make a $1 donation to Girl Up every day just by uploading a photo.

Day 5: Screen the extended version of the Nepal chapter of Girl Rising.

Day 7: Collect spare change by placing jars in classrooms around your school and making it a friendly competition.

Day 11: Celebrate the day by organizing a “pep rally,” cupcake party, or girls’ night out event. Be sure to register the event!

Whether you choose to complete all of these actions or just a couple, you will have succeeded in bringing awareness and attention to the injustices and also in celebrating the potential of girls everywhere!

Through my experience as a teen adviser and my trip to Guatemala this past spring to learn about Girl Up supported programs, I have come to realize that we all have the power to ignite the spark within each of us, but most importantly we have the opportunity to help each other light it. There is a pivotal moment in a girl’s life that will help determine whether she will be able to escape the cycle of poverty. By joining this growing movement, you can play a critical role in ensuring that when she reaches this pivotal moment in her life, she has the tools to head down the path of opportunity in search for her future.

**This post originally appeared in the Huffington Post Impact Section on September 29th.**

How will you give back?

As summer ends and you begin to ease into your back to school routine,  it is easy to get trapped in the bubble of our teenage world. What  should I wear for my first day? How many notebook do I need to buy? What class will be my favorite? While these things are all very reasonable questions to be asking and thinking about, it is also a good time to ask yourself  how you can get involved in your community on a regular basis to make a difference in the lives of others. You do not need to start a non-profit or raise a lot of money to make a difference, you just have to find a cause you are passionate about and act on it.

Here are some ideas on what you can do:

–Start a Girl Up club at your school: As you may know from reading this blog, Girl Up is a campaign of the UN foundation that mobilizes teens to raise awareness and funds for the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls. Girl Up has many amazing projects going on right now in addition to funding programs in developing countries to ensure that girls have the chance to be safe, counted, educated, healthy and positioned to be leaders in their communities. For example, you can be part of helping to get a bill passed in Congress called “Girls Count,” which will enforce that girls everywhere are given a birth certificate when they are born. It is an exciting time to start a Girl Up club! Learn more here.

-Volunteer at your local food pantry: It is very rewarding to work at a local food pantry whether it be helping in the kitchen or serving meals, starting a conversation, and making other people smile.

 -Volunteer at your local chapter of ASPCA or other animal shelter: It can be a little tricky to get approval to volunteer in an animal shelter if you are under 18, but if you love working with animals…give it a shot!

-Volunteer with kids: This could through an afterschool tutoring or arts program or through a shelter. There are always lots of opportunities to work with kids in your local community if you explore the options.

-Join or start a chapter of national service or social justice organizations: Amnesty International and the Red Cross are just two examples of organizations that have thousands of chapters around the country.

-Join or start a service board/club at your school: If you are passionate about bringing your classmates together to volunteer or educating them on the importance of social justice and volunteerism, consider a service board as a way to inspire others to become change agents in your community.

 

Trying to find one-time service opportunities in your area? Try volunteermatch.org

 

 

ACTBOLD Now and Always

Reflecting on my school experience, I get to take a step back and look at community service from a variety of perspectives. There is community service as a requirement at school, community service as a responsibility, community service as a passion, or maybe a combination of all of the above but it is interesting to think about the extent to which community service plays a role in the lives of people around the world. It is also interesting to think about what it means to “do community service.” Does it mean volunteering in your local community? In the global community? Does it mean donating money or advocating for a cause you’re passionate about? Does it mean taking a stand again an injustice? What I have come to realize is that it means all of that and it means something different to everyone.

For me, it has played an integral role in my life as a high school student. By being an active member of my community and opening my eyes to the world outside my high school “bubble,” I have learned what it truly means to be part of something and to be a citizen of the world. The service board at my school was my niche. It is where I found comfort, surrounded by other students who frequently volunteer and love giving back. That being said, community service isn’t a passion for everyone and that is okay, but I hope that in small ways, through the service board and my work with Girl Up, I can provide insight as to why your actions matter and give you confidence in your abilities to make a difference in a variety of ways.

What I can say for sure is that developing a habit of serving your community by donating your time and energy to a cause is one that develops in middle and high school. That is not to say that it is too late to start volunteering after you graduate from high school, but it is during those years when you commit to making the time that you develop a life-long commitment. No matter how busy you get, you will not stop making the effort to lend your time for the good of others once you have established a habit. And as we all know, habits are hard to break!

So as you end your school year and head into summer, however old you are, think about the ways in which you can use your unique talents and strengths to help someone else. Even if you do not make a huge commitment, you can better the life of one person and maybe more. So go out there, find what your passionate about or what you care about, and ACTBOLD.

One of my favorite quotes!

Connecting with My Sisters in Guatemala

“I know now that I can be a change agent, a force of change,” Vivian, one of the many passionate, empowered young women we met today told us. 

During the course of the day, we met with Mayan adolescent girls and their mothers in different communities in Totonicapan, Guatamala. These communities are often far from health clinics and secondary schools and are hard to reach even by car because of the terrain. The joint programs that Girl Up supports are the first programs in these communities dedicated to empowering adolescent girls and providing them with safe spaces. 

Each community we visited has implemented a different type of program based on the needs of that community, but it is clear from all the girls we met that these programs are making an incredible impact on the lives of Mayan adolescents in Guatemala. These programs are helping girls understand the power of their actions, their rights, and the ability they have to be a leader and make a difference. While the change must come within them, the programs are giving the girls the tools they need to be empowered and empower those around them. 

One of the many ideas that resonated with me today was how similar my passions and dreams are to those of the girls that we met. We both desire to have our voices heard and our opinions valued. We both seek acceptance and validation at a time in our life when we are searching for our purpose.  Most of all, we both have visions of change and of hope for our future and for the future of our world. 

I often talk about how Girl Up has given me a platform to use my voice. Being involved with Girl Up has given me the chance to stand up for my rights and the rights of other women around the world. What I realized after meeting with the young women is that these programs are doing the same thing for them as Girl Up has done for me. Programs like these are helping girls in Guatemala to be leaders in their community and the protagonists of their own stories. 

The girls we met with today who have faced unimaginable violence and discrimination inspire me with their stories of courage, strength, and conviction. They do not label themselves as victims, but rather as fighters.They are not only fighters for themselves and for their rights, but also for young women in their communities. 

What’s their message to young women in the United States and around the world? These young women are urging us to hold hands and stand up for ourselves and for our sisters because together we can create a world in which girls and women are equal.

 

This post originally appeared on GirlUp.org

Me with girls from Santa Maria Chiquimula in a Girl Up-supported program (INSIDER IMAGES/Stuart Ramson)

Thinking Outside The Box

Students promoting the recycling drive to benefit Girl Up.

Have you ever found yourself at a loss for fundraising ideas for an organization or cause that you are passionate about?

As teens, it can be frustrating when we find causes that we care deeply about but struggle to find the “right way” to ask other teens or members of our community to make monetary donations. While bake sales, penny drives, and candy-grams can all be effective ways to raise money through a school community, thinking outside the box and utilizing your networks and resources to mobilize a larger group in support of a cause can be a very powerful tool when it comes to grassroots fundraising.

Last month, the Girl Up New York Regional Coalition had the privilege of partnering with Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), the largest electronics recycler in the nation to support and raise money for Girl Up, a campaign of the United Nations Foundation. As I have previously blogged, Girl Up mobilizes teens in the U.S. to raise awareness and funds for the world’s hardest-to-reach-adolescent girls. Through ERI and the Girl Up New York Regional Coalition, we set up drives in seven different schools in NYC to collect unwanted small electronics such as laptops, cellphones, tablets, e-readers, cameras, gaming devices and ipods. Electronic Recyclers International reconditioned the small electronics collected for resale or recycling in an environmentally proper manner utilizing their certified processes. The profits will go directly to help keep girls safe, counted, educated, and become leaders in their community.

Students promoting the recycling drive to benefit Girl Up.

Although we still must determine how much was raised through this fundraiser, I believe it was already a success because it brought schools together with the common goal of raising awareness and funds by providing an environmentally friendly service to our respective communities. Instead of asking for money, we asked for people’s old electronics that were sitting in desk drawers or under their beds so that we can help girls receive the opportunities they so often lack in many countries around the world. Seems like a no brainer, right? This model of combining the efforts and resources of different people and organizations allows for funds to be raised more easily by larger groups while simultaneously raising awareness about a cause.  Always remember that while alone we are strong, together we are stronger.

**Stay tuned for a toolkit so that you too can organize an electronic recycling drive in your community to benefit Girl Up**

Opportunity for NYC Students

Rise Up with Girl Up at a sneak peak screening featuring one of Girl Up’s partners, 10×10. Girl Rising is 10×10’s soon-to-be-released feature-length film about the strength of the human spirit and the power of education to change the world. The film uses the power of storytelling and leverages strategic partnerships to deliver a single message: educating girls in developing nations will change the world.
Girl Rising tells the stories of 10 extraordinary girls from 10 countries, written by 10 celebrated writers and narrated by 10 renowned actresses, including Meryl Streep, Kerry Washington, Alicia Keys, and Selena Gomez. The film will be released on March 7th so this event will be an exclusive opportunity for Girl Up supporters and friends before the Red Carpet Premiere.

Join students from across New York City who are passionate and determined to help ensure that all girls have access to stay safe from violence, see a doctor, receive an education, and be a leader for a very special screening of this film that will not be in theaters until March 7, 2013. A panel discussion will follow the screening. More details on panel to follow.

Date: January 25, 2013
Time: 6-8pm
Where: The Hewitt School (45 East 75th Street)

The event is organized by the Girl Up New York Regional Coalition, a collaboration of all the Girl Up clubs in the metropolitan area and who are living Girl Up’s motto,
“While we are strong, together we are stronger.”

Girl Up is a campaign of the United Nations Foundation that works to mobilize teens here in the U.S. to raise awareness and funds for the world’s hardest to reach adolescent girls. www.girlup.org

Please RSVP to Sofia.Stafford@mac.com. I hope to see you there!

 

Invest in her Future!

Although my passion and dedication to girls and women’s issues led me to my role as a teen advisor for Girl Up, I would not have had the opportunities I have had without the investment my English teacher, Dr. Maureen Burgess, made in me. Beginning with a blog project in English class, she realized how interested I was in getting involved with an organization that would allow me to work on mobilizing teen girls to raise awareness about issues that girls our age face around the world.  She introduced me to Girl Up and has always been there for me to support my work with the campaign. Dr. Burgess inspires me every day and has shown me that by believing in the power of my dreams, I can make a difference.

Khadija is just like me. She also has a teacher who believes in her. The difference is that Khadija is a 15-year-old girl in Malawi who was supposed to get married to a man much older than her.

Right before Khadija was forced to marry, one of the teachers at her school intervened and worked with a local organization that Girl Up supports to prevent Khadija from an early marriage.

Both Khadija and I are able to do well in school and positively impact our futures because of the investments our teachers made in us.

So what can you do?

When you give to Girl Up on Crowdrise this holiday season, Dell will double your gift! Donate today and make your contribution twice as nice.

With your help, we can double the important work being done through United Nations programs that provide education, leadership programs, and health services.

Invest in a girl. Invest in the future!