UNICEF: Investing in the rights of adolescent girls Video

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, 9 April 2009 Adolescent girls in developing countries are the worlds greatest untapped resource for stability and growth. As economic actors and future mothers, safe, healthy, educated, economically empowered girls have the means to escape poverty and ignite progress.

With the right opportunities, an adolescent girl will marry later, have fewer children and invest almost 90 percent of her income back into her family. Yet today, less than half a cent of every international development dollar is spent on adolescent girls.

More than 600 parliamentarians from over 100 countries came together this week in Addis Ababa to discuss the role of parliaments in promoting global peace and security, democracy and development. Among the issues high on their agenda was the importance of investing in adolescent girls a critical strategy in the response to the impact of the global financial crisis on developing economies.

To read the full story, visit http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ethiopia_49258.html