International Women’s Day

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, on securing today’s debate and on her sparkling and challenging speech. I think that all noble Lords would agree that while there is much to celebrate in the hard-fought-for achievements of women internationally, there is still a great deal more to do in achieving real equality of opportunity for women. In the UK, the Equality Bill currently going through Parliament will, suitably amended, be a positive step change—of that I am quite certain. However, we need to remember that today’s world is global. Thus our concern and help for equal opportunities and women’s achievement must also be global. Differences in wealth between countries and in the ways in which women are treated are huge. It is on how we can best help to increase global equal opportunities and achievements for women that I wish to speak. We will not succeed in improving the lives and achievements of women without first securing progress for girls. Women whose development has been stunted by malnutrition, who have been denied an education, and who have become accustomed to abuse and exploitation in their childhood, will find it harder to claim equality and realise their rights in adulthood. Plan International is an organisation that is a mover and shaker in this area. Its reports over the past three years, The State of the World’s Girls, have highlighted some of the shocking discrepancies between young women's treatment and opportunities which combine to hamper development efforts. The reports outline how, in many countries, the birth of a boy is to be celebrated while the birth of a girl is a cause for commiseration. Male infant and child mortality rates should, in fact, be higher than those of females, as girls have a biological advantage over boys. Despite that, most of the 10 million children who die before the age of five every year are girls. One of the saddest consequences of the discrimination faced by young women is that they often have a shorter childhood and are forced to take on adult responsibilities earlier than their brothers. Their productivity and work in the home, caring for family members and carrying out domestic chores, which are increasingly recognised here, are seldom recognised there. The loss of childhood can have serious and dangerous consequences. Nearly 50 per cent of all sexual assaults worldwide are against girls under 15. One in seven of the world’s girls will be married before their 15th birthday, and pregnancy-related illnesses are among the leading causes of death for young girls aged between 15 and 19 worldwide. The younger the girls are when they give birth, the higher the risk of complications and death, as other noble Lords have mentioned. Despite all this, we know that where they are valued, supported and invested in, girls can transform their lives, their communities and their countries. Educated and empowered girls are agents for sustainable change. I have two examples which I had intended to read to noble Lords, but there is no time. A 100-country survey by the World Bank found that only a 1 per cent increase in the number of female secondary students boosts a country’s annual per capita income by 0.3 percentage points on average. That is an amazing figure. India alone misses out on potential economic growth worth around US $33 billion each year through underinvestment in girls. In developing countries, more than 60 million girls of primary age are out of school—more than all the girls in North America and Europe combined. While there is no magic bullet that can ensure that the millennium development goals are met, education, particularly secondary education for girls, should be a catalyst to hasten the achievement of all other MDGs by creating a demographic dividend whereby young women will have fewer children, reducing the number of financial dependents per worker, while at the same time spurring increases in per capita wealth. I hope that when the Leader of the House replies she will be able to confirm that helping girls worldwide to achieve an education and skills for life will continue to be a top DfID priority.