Today, on International Day of the Girl, the United States joins the international community in celebrating the power, potential, and progress of girls and young women everywhere.
In partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development, Millenium Challenge Corporation, and Peace Corps, the Department of State is proud to launch an update to the U.S. Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls. The United States recognizes that a concerted effort to empower adolescent girls globally and address the harmful practices that impede their full and meaningful participation in public and social life is essential to safeguarding girls’ human rights and advancing U.S. security and foreign policy priorities.
While adolescence is a time of great vulnerability for girls, it also represents an opportunity to cultivate girls’ expertise and leadership in their communities, countries, and on the global stage. Girls continue to show us how to effectively lead movements, drive social change, contribute to sustainable peace, and help shift harmful norms in their families and communities. Today, the United States recommits to championing and investing in the world’s girls and young women, who, as part of the largest youth population in history, are driving creative solutions to global challenges and propelling us toward a more equitable, safe, resilient, and free future.