Resources
Explore a wide range of valuable resources on GCED to deepen your understanding and enhance your research, advocacy, teaching, and learning.
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Girl Goals: What has Changed for Girls? Adolescent Girls’ Rights over 30 Years Year of publication: 2025 Corporate author: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) | United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) | Plan International This report makes three key recommendations on action we can take now to advance adolescent girls’ rights at scale, in ways that account for fiscally constrained contexts and multiple competing priorities: 1. Ensure tangible and actionable support for adolescent girls’ voices, advocacy and action. The current generation of girls are raising their voices to be heard and are already at the forefront of making change around the world. With the right support, resources and seats at the table, adolescent girls can help transform the world for the better, shaping better policy outcomes for themselves and everyone. This is not about girls’ voices above all others, or endless consultation, but about specific, meaningful actions that ensure girls get the support they need and are heard on policy issues that matter to them. 2. Establish and track explicit targets for change for adolescent girls, who are too often invisible and sidelined Setting explicit targets to monitor outcomes for adolescent girls is key to making progress. Context-specific prioritization will be necessary, but there are some issues that stand out globally. Gaps in progress (such as child marriage gains accruing disproportionately to wealthier households) demonstrate the need forprogrammes that address poverty and economic realities alongside harmful social norms. The disproportionate number of adolescent girls not in education, employment or training, not entering the labour market as young women, and left behind when it comes to digital skills, is a threat to the gains made for girls and to economic growth that will benefit everyone. Stagnation on issues like underweight also stand out. Country- specific priorities supported by data- driven accountability mechanisms and investments are needed to translate policy commitments into change on the ground. 3. Resource and deliver smartly to unlock the social and economic dividend Governments and partners should invest in solutions proven to change outcomes across multiple SDGs at scale – for example, investing in education and skills, cash transfers and economic empowerment programmes designed to support girls. Existing systems, from maternal health care to school curricula, should be adapted to meet girls’ needs rather than creating small- scale, separate projects. Streamlined, evidence-based ‘add-ons’ – such as adding parenting support to existing maternal health-care programmes – can be cost effective and accelerate outcomes if well designed. Change is possible, and this report shows that great gains have been made. Smart investments now can transform the world for girls, families, communities and national economies. It is time to act. 
Digital Empowerment of Girls Year of publication: 2018 Corporate author: Plan International Despite the accumulated efforts and commitments of the past 20 years, today’s women and girls continue to face gender-based barriers that prevent them from accessing and utilising technology and digital tools at the same level as boys and men.Girls are 5 times less likely to consider a career in tech than boys.Equality of education is essential to redress the digital gender gap – which is sadly growing – but it’s not the only method.We must make tech safe, affordable and accessible to girls – wherever they live. We must tackle the ingrained gender norms that prevent girls from seeing digital roles as accessible career paths.Rather than making assumptions about what girls want and need from technology, we must work with them to create solutions for the issues that affect them by enabling them to learn digital skills.Technology can be a powerful tool for girls’ voices to become even louder and reach even further.This briefing paper provides recommendations for closing the digital gender gap that will enable girls to participate in and contribute to our increasingly digital future.Despite the accumulated efforts and commitments of the past 20 years, today’s women and girls continue to face gender-based barriers that prevent them from accessing and utilising technology and digital tools at the same level as boys and men.Promoting girls’ digital literacy and closing the digital gender gap will play an important role in achieving gender equality and promoting the rights of girls and women worldwide.Plan International strives to build a world in which girls have the tools and the power to shape their own futures and influence decision making and policy processes at local and global levels. Technology is not a prerequisite for being a change agent or a leader, but it can be a powerful tool for girls’ voices to become even louder and reach even further. Similarly, social media can be used as a vehicle to spread inspirational stories of female leaders and connect activists and changemakers across the world.Digital technologies have a strong potential to empower girls and women economically and socially. Girls feel safer and more connected when they have a mobile phone, and they use mobile phones to save time and money and access educational opportunities. Yet girls and women are, on average, less likely than men to own a mobile phone, use mobile data, social media apps or SMS. There is also a stark gender disparity in access to the Internet, which limits the ability of girls and women to benefit from many innovations of the digital economy, such as digital payments and mobile money. The gender disparity in access to technology is compounded by a significant gender divide in terms of career and academic aspirations related to ICTs.Advancing digital equality for girlsThis briefing paper argues that promoting girls’ digital literacy and closing the digital gender gap will play an important role in achieving gender equality and promoting the rights of girls and women worldwide. Indeed, bridging the digital gender divide is essential in ensuring girls and women are not left behind in an increasingly digital future.The paper also argues that actions promoting girls’ digital empowerment should be guided by the principle of engaging girls and women as active, capable partners in our work, not merely passive recipients or targets. Rather than making assumptions about what girls want and need from technology, it is important to work together with girls to strengthen and develop their use and creation of technology and digital tools. Empoderamiento digital de las niñas Year of publication: 2018 Corporate author: Plan International Este documento informativo argumenta que mediante la promoción de la alfabetización digital de las niñas y el cierre de la brecha digital de género se podrá conseguir importantes logros con respecto a la igualdad de género y la promoción de los derechos de las niñas y mujeres en todo el mundo. 
Engaging Girls, Boys and Youth as Active Citizens: Plan International’s Position Paper Year of publication: 2020 Corporate author: Plan International Plan International believes that every child and young person has the right to express their views freely and safely; influence decisions and take action on issues that matter to them. However, around the world children and young people – particularly girls and young women – face significant challenges in realising this right. They tend to be wrongly dismissed as insufficiently mature to participate in political and civic processes. They also tend to be stigmatised as potential perpetrators of disruption, not as valued citizens and contributors to society who can lead and drive positive change. Plan International is calling for a paradigm shift in the way the international community talks about, engages and partners with children and young people. Children and young people are not just the future. They are the present. Young people constitute almost half of the world’s population, yet they are dramatically underrepresented – even excluded – in political decision-making. It is critical that their views and needs are taken into account politically, socially, legally and economically. Promoting the voices and views of children and young people – especially girls and women – in all their diversity and supporting them to actively engage in decision-making on issues that affect their lives must be an urgent priority for the world’s power holders. Realising children and young people’s civil and political rights is a prerequisite for building sustainable and peaceful societies, and a gender just world envisioned in international human rights frameworks and the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).Across the 75+ countries Plan International works in, young people have consistently identified the denial of their political and civil rights as a priority issue. In March 2017, Plan International conducted consultations with young women and men aged 14 to 30 from 14 countries. In every country, young people reported a sense of “citizen responsibility” and an interest in public life, yet identified the lack of platforms to meaningfully engage with decision-makers and inability to ensure their opinions are taken seriously as key barriers. Girls and young women in particular have called for the removal of gendered norms that increase those barriers, silence their voices and disproportionately hold them back from leadership and active citizenship. Impliquer les filles, garçons et jeunes en tant que citoyens actifs : Prise de position de Plan International Year of publication: 2020 Corporate author: Plan International Ce rapport expose la position de Plan International sur le droit à la participation à la vie publique, ainsi qu’une analyse : du cadre juridique et politique ; de l’impact des normes sociales et genrées sur la participation ; et des problèmes spécifiques relatifs à l’émancipation politique et à la citoyenneté active. Ce rapport appuie 100 Millions de Raisons, la Stratégie Mondiale 2017-2022 de Plan International, dont la priorité principale est le soutien des filles, des garçons et des jeunes en tant qu’acteurs actifs du changement. Il défend notre travail en relation avec l’Agenda 2030 et les Objectifs de Développement Durable – plus spécifiquement les objectifs 5, 10 et 16. Un certain nombre de recommandations importantes sont incluses afin de guider le plaidoyer. Involucrar a niñas, niños y jóvenes como ciudadanos activos: Documento de Posición de Plan International Year of publication: 2020 Corporate author: Plan International En este documento se expone la posición de Plan International sobre el derecho a participar en la vida pública, así como el análisis del marco jurídico y político; las repercusiones de las normas sociales y de género en la participación; y aspectos específicos relacionados con el empoderamiento político y la ciudadanía activa. Este instrumento apunta a 100 Millones de Razones, la Estrategia Global de Plan International 2017-2022, que define como prioridad apoyar a las niñas, los niños y las/los jóvenes como motores del cambio. También apoya nuestra labor en relación con la Agenda 2030 y los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible, en particular los Objetivos 5, 10 y 16. Para orientar las actividades de incidencia se incluyen varias recomendaciones de alto nivel. 
Children's Climate Cards Year of publication: 2021 Corporate author: Plan International These children’s climate cards provide a series of inspiring and interactive activities to engage children on the climate change agenda and call for climate action. 
Gender Inequality and Early Childhood Development: A Review of the Linkages Year of publication: 2017 Corporate author: Plan International This paper aims to respond to the fact that Early Childhood Development initiatives and programmes, both internal and external, often appear to give limited attention to gender inequality and discrimination. Furthermore, initiatives to promote girls’ rights and gender equality often pay little attention to early childhood, instead focusing on older girls and adolescents. 
Reimagining Climate Education and Youth Leadership: Survey Report Year of publication: 2021 Author: Lucia Rost | Jessica Cooke | Isobel Fergus Corporate author: Plan International Climate change is a social, intergenerational, gender, and racial injustice. Plan International aims to support children and youth to meaningfully and safely engage in climate policy processes and to reduce the barriers preventing them from engaging in and influencing climate policy and advocacy.With this in mind, Plan International conducted a global online survey to capture the opinions and experiences of young people on climate change education and their participation in climate policy processes. The survey was available in seven languages and was open to 15 to 24-year- olds in all 77 countries where Plan International operates. Over 1,800 adolescents and youth, between the ages of 15 to 24, from 37 countries, participated: more than half (54 per cent) were 15 to 18 years old and 72 per cent were girls. Reimagining Climate Education and Youth Leadership: Survey Report Year of publication: 2021 Author: Lucia Rost | Jessica Cooke | Isobel Fergus Corporate author: Plan International El cambio climático es una injusticia social, intergeneracional, racial y de género. Plan International tiene como objetivo ayudar a las niñas, niños y jóvenes a involucrarse de manera significativa y segura en los procesos de formulación de políticas climáticas, así como eliminar los obstáculos que les impiden participar e influir en las políticas y las actividades de promoción relacionadas con el cambio climático. Plan International realizó una encuesta on line a nivel mundial para recopilar las opiniones y las experiencias de jóvenes sobre la educación en materia de cambio climático y su participación en los procesos de formulación de políticas climáticas. La encuesta se ofreció en siete idiomas y estuvo abierta a jóvenes de 15 a 24 años en los 77 países donde trabaja Plan International. En esta encuesta, participaron más de 1800 adolescentes y jóvenes, con edades comprendidas entre los 15 y los 24 años, y procedentes de 37 países: más de la mitad de las personas (54 %) tenían entre 15 y 18 años, y el 72 % eran niñas.