The Global Girlhood Report 2020 | UPSC
HEADLINES:
The Global Girlhood Report 2020
WHY IN NEWS:
COVID-19 is increasing the risk of child marriage ,violence, adolescent pregnancy, and food and economic insecurity.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Report
LEARNING:
For PRELIMS it is important to look at important comparisons and analysis of child marriages . Do not forget the publishers .
For MAINS look at the vulnerabilities in pandemic faced by girls in poverty and note them down . It is an important report .
ISSUE:
THE GLOBAL GIRLHOOD REPORT 2020
- 2020 was supposed to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for women and girls.
- The year when governments, businesses, organisations and individuals who believe in equal treatment for all people were going to develop a five-year plan for gender equality.
- Then COVID-19 struck. Now, 2020 risks being a year of irreversible setbacks and lost progress for girls.
- Unless the world acts fast and decisively, the impact on girls’ futures – and on all our futures – will be devastating.
TITLE
The Global Girlhood Report 2020
PUBLISHED BY
Save the Children International
HIGHLIGHTS
- COVID-19 has pushed 2.5 mln girls into child marriage, warns report.
- The COVID-19 pandemic may undermine a quarter century’s progress in curbing child marriages .
- This can also increase under-age pregnancies.
- 78.6 million child marriages have been prevented by progress to end the practice over the last 25 years.
- Great progress has been made with and for girls since countries promised to work toward gender equality in 1995.
- It is not too late to protect a generation of progress for girls.
REPORT ANALYSIS
GIRLS’ RIGHT TO SURVIVE
- Over a generation, there has been real progress in girls’ survival.
- A girl born at the beginning of 2020 – before COVID-19 ; was more than two times more likely to survive to the age of five than girls born in her mother’s generation, 25 years ago.
- And she’s 50% less likely to be too small for her age as a result of malnutrition.
- Girls living in poor households and in remote areas are still far more likely to die very young than girls from wealthier families and those living in cities.
- Improvements in early childhood survival and nutrition have not been matched by investment in reducing causes of death and disability for adolescent girls.
- The impact of COVID-19 on access to health and nutrition is likely to hit the poorest girls hardest.
- The links between poverty, gender inequality and poor nutrition for girls mean that the COVID-19 crisis presents a grave threat to already inadequate progress.
GIRLS’ RIGHT TO LEARN
- The world faces an education emergency in 2020.
- Experience suggests that the majority of children who do not step foot in a classroom again will be girls.
- With Great Depression predicted, many girls face huge additional pressure to earn money.
- This is to support themselves and their families and are at growing risk of exploitation.
- Children losing their connection to education, due to COVID-19 school closures, and growing poverty are increasing the risk of child labour and exploitation.
- Girls also face higher risk of certain types of the worst forms of child labour, like trafficking and sexual exploitation.
GIRLS’ RIGHT TO BODILY AUTONOMY
- The progress made to reduce child marriage over the past 25 years has prevented an estimated 78.6 million child marriages.
- Legal protections against child marriage are increasing with more and more countries setting the minimum age for marriage at 18 years.
- Legal protections are important but laws alone are not enough.
- The Report estimates that the number of girls at risk of child marriage could increase by up to 2.5 million.
CHILD MARRIAGE AND CONSEQUENCES
- Child marriage is a form of gender-based violence and a result and driver of gender inequality and discrimination.
- Ending the practice is critical to ending many of the rights abuses that stand in the way of gender equality for girls.
BACKGROUND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND WOMEN
- In 2015, all governments promised to work together to improve the lives of people all over the world.
- The objective was to fulfil their rights by 2030 by agreeing to a list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
- The goal of gender equality means closing gaps in access to opportunities and services between all men and women and boys and girls, including those with disabilities.
Its targets over the next ten years include:
- Equitable access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
- Equitable access to education
- Improving women’s political participation
- Recognising the value of unpaid work.
IASbhai WINDUP:
RECOMMENDATIONS
- RAISE GIRLS’ VOICES : By supporting their right to safe and meaningful participation in all public decision-making through the COVID-19 response, recovery and beyond.
- ACT TO ADDRESS ONGOING RISKS OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE : Recognising that child protection workers and those addressing gender-based violence provide ‘essential services’; strengthen protective systems.
- END CHILD MARRIAGE : Support already married girls to realise their rights – through law reform; multi-sectoral national action plans.
- INVEST IN GIRLS : Now with new, not repackaged, investments to prevent the worst outcomes of COVID-19 for girls, and to enable progress and lasting change.
- COUNT EVERY GIRL : With improved data collection to put the girls who have been pushed furthest behind first, particularly in humanitarian contexts.
SOURCES:DOWNTOEARTH | The Global Girlhood Report 2020 | UPSC
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