I recently had the good fortune of attending a program about Girl Up, an innovative campaign of the United Nations Foundation which mobilizes the general public , specifically American adolescent girls,to raise funds and awareness of  UN programs that serve the hardest-to-reach adolescent girls in developing countries.  Melissa Hillebrenner, Director of Girl Up was a guest speaker at a celebration to mark UN Day at the Scranton Library in Madison, CT.

“Girl Up envisions a world where all girls, no matter where they live, have the opportunity to become educated, healthy, safe, counted and positioned to be the next generation of leaders….

There are more than 600 million adolescent girls living in developing countries today. These girls are bright, talented and full of dreams, but are often unable to reach their full potential.

 Many of them struggle for the opportunity to go to school, see a doctor or be included in their communities. This has serious consequences including: low levels of enrollment in school, high levels of child marriage and way too many girls facing health risks from pregnancy and early child birth.

 Girl Up believes that American girls are a part of the solution. We know that girls give, girls talk and girls get involved. This generation of girls cares about global issues and is concerned about the challenges facing other girls around the world. ”

Visit Girl Up to  learn how to take action, how to be involved, how to fundraise, raise awareness and advocate for change.