Starting from Girls: They are the source to trigger a change!

Today more than ever there is a need to invest in adolescents and youth, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. A demographic boom is expected by 2050, with a rise in Africa’s population to over two billion people, making up 25% of the entire global population, compared to 15% of today. This potential presents a unique situation, and planning for it needs to be taken seriously into consideration.

A huge proportion of the population in Africa is made up of adolescents and youth. Among these, girls and young women still face inequalities and discrimination which constantly undermine the process of improving their status, as well as their socio-economic rights. On average, the level of female human development is 13% lower than that of males. 

This paper poses several questions on how to better promote the role of girls, and why doing so is important. It guides the reader through an interesting and important pathway, indicating what is still overlooked or unknown about girls, their work and their potential, and it suggests possible directions to be followed by policymakers.