A new strategic vision for girls and women: stopping poverty before it starts

Across the developing world, girls and women continue to bear a disproportionate burden of poverty. Yet we know it is possible to take effective practical action that enables girls and women to fulfill their potential. And we know that the benefits of investing in girls and women are transformational – for their own lives and for their families, communities, societies and economies. Empowering girls and women has multiplier effects for economic growth and achieving all of the MDGs. If we reach girls, in particular, early enough in their lives, we can transform their life chances. Giving girls greater choice and control over decisions that affect them helps break the cycle of poverty between one generation and the next. It enables us to stop poverty before it starts.