Girls’ equality organisation Plan International Australia said the knock-on effects of fuel and fertiliser shortages due to the conflict in Iran, which is driving food insecurity and economic instability, are particularly severe for adolescent girls.
As fuel prices surge so too does the cost of transport, food and basic goods, pushing already vulnerable households deeper into poverty.
This in turn results in increased gender-based violence, more girls forced out of school and into work, and rising rates of child marriage, Plan International Australia said.
At Women Deliver, a major gender equality conference being held in Melbourne, a coalition of leading aid, development and gender organisations alongside philanthropic partners is shining a light on the disproportionate impact of economic instability and conflict on teen girls.
The group is particularly highlighting the economic case for Australia and other donor countries in the region to invest in adolescent girls in the Asia Pacific.
“The ripple effects of the Middle East crisis and fuel shortages across Asia are deeply concerning and risk undermining already fragile economies and communities,” Plan International Australia chief executive Susanne Legena said.
“But adolescent girls represent a powerful solution, and could be a turning point in all of this … when their rights are upheld and their leadership is nurtured, they help build fairer, safer and more sustainable communities.
“When we invest in girls, everything changes: girls become women with choices, and entire communities rise with them.”
Plan International Australia is calling on the Albanese Government to commit $50 million in its International Gender Equality Strategy over four years.
The funding should be targeted towards initiatives that explicitly benefit adolescent girls across education, health, violence prevention, climate response and economic participation.
“If Australia wants its aid to work harder, investing in girls early is one of the smartest and most cost- effective choices it can make,” Legena said.
“If we fail to act now, we risk failing an entire generation of girls.”
AAP
