Nov 9, 2009
What are the benefits of focusing specifically on girls when we
invest in development? My guest this week is Ruth Levine, an expert
on health and education who for the past two years has focused much
of her work on adolescent girls. She's the co-author of a recently
released CGD report titled,
"Start With A Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health." In our
Wonkcast, she outlines the agenda and explains why it's so
critical.
"Women and girls in many senses really hold the key not only for
their own health but for the health of their children and their
broader communities," Ruth tells me. Recognizing that fact and
directing our investments accordingly, she says, can lead to better
solutions for a wide range of problems-- everything from economic
development to HIV/AIDS.
"In high [AIDS] burden countries, if you look at who is getting
infected, three quarters of HIV infected young people are
girls."
Bringing those numbers and overall AIDS infection rates down, Ruth
explains, will require identifying and addressing the social
dynamics that make girls more vulnerable in the first place.
The 'Start With a Girl' agenda explains what a comprehensive
girl-focused public health policy might look like. Among its eight
agenda items, it recommends working to eliminate child marriage,
focusing HIV prevention efforts on adolescent girls, and fostering
national commitments in selected developing countries to providing
healthcare to girls. The full agenda as well as a video of the
report's well-attended launch are available here.
Start with a Girl is the second report in the ongoing Girls Count
series, following on Girls
Count: A Global Investment and Action Agenda, which Ruth
co-authored with experts from three other organizations.
Listen to the Wonkcast to hear our full conversation. Have
something to add? Ideas for future interviews? Post a comment
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