Strong Girls United Women (SGUW) supports the CALL TO ACTION from girls and young women around the globe to the leaders of all nations.

Adolescent girls and young women are still the most marginalized group globally, facing discrimination and abuse solely based on their age and gender. Throughout their early years until adulthood, girls encounter specific disadvantages stemming from this dual discrimination. The intersection of poverty, ethnicity, disability, along with prevailing gender stereotypes and unequal power dynamics, exacerbates the challenges faced by girls. Often, girls are neglected amidst the predominant focus on women's and children's rights agendas. While progress has been made, including the inclusion of girls in international commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals, more efforts are required to ensure their full rights are realized.

Furthermore, adolescent girls, with their unique needs and challenges, risk being overlooked. Despite being well into the 2030 agenda, adolescent girls are still being deprived of their rights, facing discrimination, and not being recognized for their potential as agents of change.

As the Future Summit approaches in September, adolescent girls remain unseen in global policy and development discussions. Current global issues disproportionately impact girls and adolescents, particularly those in developing countries and crisis situations.

In May 2024, Plan International and UNICEF launched the Girls' Pact for the Future, outlining the vision of adolescent girls and young people for a gender-equal future and proposing recommendations to achieve it. Based on the outcomes of the Girls’ Pact for the Future, these young individuals have identified the eight actions from the Revision 3 of the Pact for the Future that they believe will have the most significant impact in addressing the barriers they currently face.

8 Transformative Actions for Adolescent Girls and Young People:

Action 1 - Invest in people to end poverty and strengthen trust and social cohesion. Action 2 - Achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls as crucial contribution to progress across all the Sustainable Development Goals and targets.

Action 3 - Strengthen actions to address climate change.

Action 4 - Protect all civilians in armed conflict.

Action 5 - Ensure that science, technology and innovation improve gender equality and the lives of all women and girls.

Action 6 - Invest in the social and economic development of children and young people so they can reach their full potential.

Action 7 - Promote, protect and respect the human rights of all young people and foster social inclusion and integration.

Action 8 - Strengthen meaningful youth participation in national level decision making.

The SGUW blogger will update after the Summit of the Future Conference- UN HQ- 22-23 September. Stay tuned.