Girls’ lives have never held more promise—but we cannot take this progress for granted as it is under serious threat.
That is what 18 years of research taught us, following the same 142 girls from birth to adulthood across Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, the Philippines, Togo, Uganda and Vietnam.
When we began our research (the first and only study to follow a single cohort of girls for so long) in 2006, the world was optimistic about girls’ futures. Governments were investing in education. Attitudes were shifting. Families were beginning to imagine different lives for their daughters than the ones they had lived.
In many ways, that optimism was well founded. We found that nearly two-thirds of the girls completed or are completing secondary school—far surpassing their mothers, many of whom had little or no formal education. Just over 1 in 10 of the girls were married as children, compared to almost half of their mothers. Many spoke confidently about careers in medicine, law, engineering and public service—ambitions that would have seemed unthinkable a generation ago.
This progress reflects what is possible with sustained investments in girls’ futures. But progress has unfolded unevenly.
By the age of 11, 91 percent of the girls in our study had experienced violence. From the earliest years, many had learned that society would not protect them—and that systems did not consistently hold perpetrators to account. When the responsibility for preventing abuse is placed on girls, rather than on adults and institutions, the risk of harm later in life only grows. And as digital spaces become a larger part of childhood, risks extend into those environments—where girls face online harassment.
Less visible is also the consequences and pressures on girls’ time. The participants in our study spent an average of five hours a day on unpaid care work—cooking, cleaning, looking after siblings—from a very young age. How can a girl study, rest, play or build a future when she is expected to run a household before she is a teenager?
Many parents truly value their daughters’ education and want what is best for them. But as girls grow older, that support can collide with entrenched expectations around marriage and domestic roles—expectations that place a girl’s primary value in the home, as a future wife, mother or caregiver.
Adolescence is the decisive moment, where freedoms narrow, expectations harden and gender norms tighten. Parents who once encouraged academic ambition sometimes begin to emphasise protection, reputation and preparation for marriage. Girls who were urged to excel in school can suddenly find their movements restricted, their friendships scrutinized and their time diminished by domestic responsibility.
The beliefs formed in these critical years often shape the rest of her life. This is the window in which change is most possible, and most urgent. When girls are supported to question limiting roles early, they are far more likely to reject harmful beliefs as they grow—and to insist that society has a responsibility to raise girls and boys with the same expectations and freedoms.
In our study, girls told us exactly what they need: safety, education, health care and the recognition that preventing violence against them is the responsibility of adults, not a burden children should shoulder.
And these needs are becoming more urgent. Economic hardship, conflict and climate shocks are placing increasing strain on families and systems. When crises hit, girls are often among the first to absorb the impact: pulled from school, taking on more household work, pushed toward early marriage or simply eating last. When resources are stretched, girls’ education can quickly be treated as expendable.
Alongside these pressures, there are signs of political regression. In some contexts, funding for gender equality and development is declining and civic space is shrinking. Hard-won protections are being debated, weakened or reversed. Girls are being told—in policy and in practice—that their voices do not matter and their bodies are not their own.
We have almost two decades of evidence that investing in girls works. When they are kept in school, protected from violence, and given real platforms to speak and lead, they transform not just their own lives but their communities. Educated girls become women who raise healthier children, reinvest 90 percent of their income into families and communities, build businesses, strengthen peace, and lead climate solutions.
Achieving gender equality could add trillions to global GDP, lift tens of millions out of extreme poverty and create healthier, more stable societies better able to withstand climate shocks. Multiply that impact across millions of girls, and the world itself changes.
The gains of the past two decades were not accidental, they were built through sustained political will, targeted investment and a steadfast insistence that girls’ lives matter. Will global leaders protect what has been achieved and continue this trajectory, or will they fail an entire generation?
Reena Ghelani is global CEO at Plan International.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
