U.N. News: ‘Concerted effort’ must be made to help 600 million-plus adolescent girls realize full potential: U.N. chief
“There are ‘multiple barriers’ including ‘systemic discrimination’ bias and lack of training, which are keeping the largest generation of girls in human history from reaching their full potential, said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in a statement on Thursday, marking International Day of the Girl Child. … ‘Child marriage and adolescent pregnancy force millions of girls to drop out of school. Harmful laws and social norms curtail girls’ knowledge of and autonomy over their own bodies,’ [U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Natalia Kanem] said, adding that ‘entrenched gender discrimination can lay the foundation for a lifetime of missed opportunities’…” (10/10).