‘Because I’m a girl’ is the campaign Plan Netherlands has started today. It is a campaign that wants to support girls in taking care of themselves and their children: ‘Girls can change the world. If they get a chance’. I believe all girls deserve a fair chance.

One girl that did not get this chance was a girl I met in a refugee camp in Northern Uganda in 2004. She explained that she was raped by several soldiers. She was now raising the three children they had left her with on her own.

In Malawi I also listened to girls and realised that they were trapped in a vicious poverty cycle. During inititiation ceremonies at early ages girls are told that ‘The first man to propose love to you is your man, you should not turn him down’. They follow this advice and soon get children at young ages. The boys easily leave the girl and child.

Poverty impedes girls from giving their children all opportunities they would want to give them.  It is difficult for a girl to take care of their child alone. Some of these girls eagerly accept any man and any behaviour. Additionally, they themselves will not be able to grasp the chances that lie ahead of them. Outsiders, such as Non Governmental Organisations, do not need to tell these girls what is best for them. But, they can provide support when girls start realising what they want themselves.

Because I’m a girl and I notice in my work, surroundings and private life that it is more difficult to move ahead as a girl in a men’s world, I support Plan in this campaign. Read more on the position of girls around the world in the ‘Because I am a Girl’-report. Girls in the Global Economy: Adding It all Up ‘. Girls, we can make a difference!