“The everyday discrimination girls face gets worse in a crisis. We need to listen to them.”

In Melbourne to launch the final instalment of our Adolescent Girls in Crisis series, Plan International’s Global CEO, Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen spoke of the importance of listening to girls caught up in crises situations, in an opinion piece published by ABC online.

Drawing on research findings from our latest report, which sheds light on the experiences of adolescent girls in South Sudan, the Lake Chad Basin and the Rohingya refugee camps, Anne expressed the need for girls’ voices to be heard when it comes to decision making that effects them, “As well as the constant fear of violence, girls spoke of their sense of being ignored — by their families, communities and authorities — even when they requested a better education, to contribute to their communities and work towards a brighter future.”

She cites the situation on Nauru and the recent repatriation announcement that will see Rohingyan refugees returned to a still volatile Myanmar, as examples of this ignorance, saying “We must listen to the girls in Cox’s Bazar. They shouldn’t be forced to return to Myanmar if they fear imminent violence. We must listen also to the refugee girls caught up in political games in Australia, and in crises elsewhere. We must not ignore the very real and legitimate fears of these children.”

You can find the full opinion piece on the ABC website