UNICEF

Today is the first International Day of the Girl Child -- a day aimed at highlighting, celebrating, discussing and advancing the lives of girls across the world. How can we live in a world where, every day, girls and women have their genitals mutilated, acid is thrown in their faces, they are gang-raped in moving cars, they are beaten by men they love, and they are kidnapped, sold to traffickers and kept as domestic or sexual slaves. We pause today to recognize the potential of girls and the impact that unleashing that potential may yield for all of us. But if we do not end child marriage, the hopes of each of us are undermined.

The Countdown to 2015 Initiative, a global movement dedicated to tracking, supporting, and stimulating progress in reaching UN Millennium Development Goals, has just released a 220-page report titled “Building a Future for Women and Children: The 2012 Report.” This report presents the current status and progress made by the 75 “high-burden” countries identified by Millennium Development goals 4 and 5.