What if there was a way to tackle global poverty, reduce inequality, accelerate climate action and promote peace, to improve the lives of everyone on the planet, all from a single investment?

There is, and she’s right in front of you: the adolescent girl.

Girls aged 10-19 are the most powerful catalysts for global change according to the UN. If every girl in the world’s developing countries was able to complete her education rather than dropping out of school, it would add billions to their countries’ economies, improve their countries’ climate resilience, and contribute to a more peaceful world.

This is what drives me: the idea that by empowering girls, we can create a better future for everyone. I have the joy of working as Deputy CEO at Plan International Australia, a global humanitarian organisation dedicated to children’s rights with a particular focus on girls. We’re the world’s largest organisation dedicated to girls’ equality; last year alone our work reached
over 41 million people in 75 countries.

I have worked with countless people in power over the years. I’ve worked with world leaders to change laws and policies; with philanthropists to invest in solutions at scale; with businesses to drive sustainable impact. I spent six years working within the UN, and years before that in the media. But it’s the girls I work with around the world who are by far the most impressive, determined and visionary changemakers of all. What if we could shift more of the power into their hands, not only to help them realise their own rights, but also to improve the lives of everyone on the planet?

Through my work, I have seen some of the most heartbreaking sides of humanity. Children caught up in conflicts and crises, girls facing child marriage, exploitation or violence at a devastating scale and families forced to make impossible choices in the face of hunger or poverty.

I have also seen the best of humanity. It’s not in the job description but, in reality, my role is to hold onto hope in the face of all of that heartbreak and crisis and use it to inspire people to take action. I love the quote from Rebecca Solnit:

“Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with.” My job
is to break down doors.

For me, hope lives in the actions that countless people take every day to build a better world for children and girls. It lives in those who are resisting, surviving, building peace, spreading joy. The communities coming together to resist injustice. The humanitarians tirelessly giving everything. The advocates pushing for policy change. The girls who get up every day and go to school, building their future in spite of their present. Every action, every donation, every bridge built between different perspectives, every business working to do better, every news story shining light.
No action alone is enough, but together, they are everything.

If you would like to support Plan International to educate and empower the world’s girls, through partnership or philanthropy, reach out to Hayley at hayley.cull@plan.org.au.


Type on the line above then press the Enter/Return key to submit a new search query