Girls’ Globe News – Girls' Globe

1 in 4 Countries Worldwide Face Backlash on Women’s Rights: New UN Women Report Shows

Julia Wiklander — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 12:20:57 +0000

Ahead of the 50th official UN International Women's Day this year, UN Women reports that one in four countries face backlash on women's rights. Gender equality and the rights of women and girls are facing growing threats at unprecedented levels.

In a world where we're seeing the rise of authoritarianism, the power of big tech and AI, we're also witnessing the simultaneous rise of threats against women's and girls' rights.

These threats include higher levels of discrimination, weaker legal protections, less funding for programs and institutions that support and protect women. Global crises, like the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate emergency, conflicts and soaring prices, make the urgency to respond to these threats even greater.

3 Ways to Support Girls’ Education in Afghanistan

Aid Afghanistan For Education — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 11:46:04 +0000

Education is a powerful tool for transforming lives, especially for Afghan women and girls who have faced tremendous challenges. For many, education has become the key to unlocking their potential and breaking cycles of poverty.

As one Afghan student shared, "Education is our weapon against oppression. It opens doors to opportunities that we never thought were possible."

On this International Day of the Girl, we celebrate the strength, resilience, and pride of girls in Afghanistan—today and every day.

Julia Wiklander: A message of self care and an update on Hey Changemaker

Girls' Globe — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 10:26:25 +0000

The Hey Changemaker! Podcast is alive and well. We have a lot of interviews that have been conducted and many more scheduled in the coming weeks and months. Those that are in the works will be published after the summer here in Sweden - coming back in September. In this short episode, I share an update and why we are taking a bit of a break.

In the meantime, we will be sharing many stories from changemakers around the world via the Girls’ Globe platform. So, please subscribe at girlsglobe.org/emails to hear more from them and to follow along the many exciting things we are doing in the next few months.

If you haven’t listened to all of our existing 20+ episodes, go back and do so! I have been inspired by every single conversation.

All in all, I sincerely hope that this message can be a reminder for yourself to evaluate your own work and life - to dare to reprioritize and to dare to fail at living up to your own or others expectations. As we do this work, we need to be kind to ourselves and connect to our inner loving voice time and time again.

One thing that I have appreciated so much in the past year are the Women’s Circles hosted by Sharon D’Agostino. You can hear more about them in my conversation with her in episode 15. You can learn more and register for an upcoming one at girlsglobe.org/womenscircle.

Demilitarise Education presents dED Talks: A Month Platforming Women Peacemakers

Demilitarise Education — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 11:41:00 +0000

Demilitarise Education (dED) is a community and guide for modern-day peacemakers, working to break the ties between UK Universities and the arms trade. This is because we envision a world where the power of education is used in favour of peace, not war. dED Talks is the weekly Instagram live show that explores the global fight for peace by talking to modern day peacemakers, every Thursday at 7pm (BST/GMT). dED Talks provides a platform for global changemakers to speak about their activism, whether their individual work, project or organisation. Now, having spoken to over 100 peacemakers from around the world discussing topics from militarism, space, racism, spirituality and more. Guests have included: Stella Assange, La Roux and Jo Wood. Learn more about dED and dED Talks in the full post by new Girls' Globe member Demilitarise Education.

Supporting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Kigali Schools

Mugabekazi Denyse — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 07:54:50 +0000

Since I was a young girl, I always had a dream that when I grow up I will help vulnerable families in my community to overcome poverty. I wanted to encourage young girls to be more confident and self-reliant.

This dream came through in June 2021 when I founded a local NGO named Grown to Help. For almost two years now, we've provided adolescent girls with information in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), self-leadership and confidence.

We've reached more than 200 girls in Kigali, Rwanda. In addition, we train women who are heads of vulnerable families in financial literacy and small businesses creation. We group them in a saving groups, support them financially to help them start their income-generating activities, with an aim of improving their livelihoods and ultimately being able to sponsor their children’s education.

Rwanda has made significant progress in improving its healthcare system since the 1994 genocide, which left the country in ruins. However, access to sexual and reproductive health and rights education and services is still limited, especially in public schools.

Solidarity Can’t Wait: 4 Things You Can Do This Year

Julia Wiklander — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 15:20:00 +0000

In some parts of our world, the backlash for gender equality is here. And in other parts, we're seeing the fruit of bold feminist movement building. To fuel the fire of change and to avoid the burnout that so many activists, advocates and changemakers experience, we need to organize. In an increasingly connected world, building global solidarity is the only way to sustain movements of change for gender equality, human rights, social justice and sustainability.

We're facing growing obstacles for movements of positive change.

In this post, Julia shares 4 things you can do this year to build solidarity for gender equality, human rights and sustainability.

[NEW VIDEO] What Truly Youth-Led Design and Advocacy Looks Like

Global Fund for Children — Mon, 30 May 2022 10:10:14 +0000

When young people have access to the right resources and platforms, they can achieve anything. The West Africa Adolescent Girls Summit, designed and led by youth for youth, proved that when participants stood in front of the Vice President of Liberia with clear demands for social change. “The thing that inspired me the most is […]

Why Girls’ Globe is Suspending Its Use of Facebook and Instagram

Julia Wiklander — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Tech giant Facebook Inc., recently renamed Meta, has for a long time known of its detrimental effects on people. This includes negative effects on teen girls, women, minority groups, entire societies and democracies. Despite their knowledge, they have done very little to improve the safety of their platforms. Girls' Globe can't condone the behavior of this monopolistic company that knowingly prioritizes profit over the safety and wellbeing of people in our world. We are a media platform that amplifies voices for gender equality, human rights and social justice and we will take no part in supporting a company that knowingly does the opposite. Read this post to learn more about the recent troubling revelations made by whistleblower Frances Haugen and The Wall Street Journal.

Making Unsafe Abortion History in the Philippines

Shiphrah Belonguel — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 07:56:32 +0000

On September 28, feminist activists around the world mobilize around International Safe Abortion Day. The day originated in Latin America and was known as “Campaña 28 de Septiembre por la Despenalización del Aborto”. In 2011, the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) adapted the campaign into an annual global event with a specific theme […]

Emergency Response for Women and Girls in Afghanistan

Julia Wiklander — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 17:40:23 +0000

The tragedy of the Taliban's quick take over of control in Afghanistan has sent waves of horror and grief around the world. It's with pain that we see the images of desperation coming out of the country - where more than 400,000 people have fled their homes. What this means for Afghanistan is currently unravelling, but what we know, is that women and girls are among the most vulnerable. Brave activists and organizations are stepping up their work to support women and girls in Afghanistan. Despite the fear and worry, there is hope in the resilience and strength of the activists working for change. In this post, I share four important organizations that need your support in this current crisis. I also share about what our member organizations are doing to support women and girls in Afghanistan.