Where in the world is it hardest to be a girl?
Niger is the worst country to be a girl, according to a world-first index by a leading children’s charity that has revealed the biggest global struggles faced by women and their female offsprings.
Save the Children spent a year collecting data for a 40-page report that lists 144 countries based on child marriage, education, teenage pregnancy, maternal deaths and number of female representatives in national government.
The charity used five indicators to form the basis of the index:- Child marriage: one of the most extreme violations of children’s rights, often reflecting power imbalances and girls’ limited autonomy and control over their own lives.
- Adolescent pregnancy: becoming mothers while still children themselves profoundly affects the course that girls’ lives take—often resulting in exclusion from education, entrenched poverty and social stigmatisation.
- Maternal mortality: an extreme violation of the right to survival and to the best possible standard of healthcare, this indicator provides insights into the quality of health services that girls have access to.
- Women in parliament: this provides insights into the prevalence—or absence—of women’s voices in public life and the likelihood of girls taking on political leadership roles when they grow up. A higher proportion of female MPs in parliament has been linked to more attention being paid to issues that affect girls’ rights.
- Lower-secondary school completion for girls: Lack of education deprives girls of opportunities and is linked to poor outcomes such as social mobility and economic empowerment. Lower-secondary school completion represents the basic minimum level of education that all children must receive, and it is during the transition from primary to secondary school that many girls drop out of the system. The Girls’ Opportunity Index includes data for 144 countries across all income groups and geographical regions.
