Almost one in four girls aged 15-19 are neither in school nor employed. 650 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday. 72% of all trafficking victims worldwide are women and girls. The statistics are startling and heartbreaking - millions of girls are denied equal access to a quality education, simply because of their gender, and often face an uncertain and unhappy future, never reaching their full potential. Many factors such as poverty, child marriage, gender-based violence, and other forms of discrimination are the barriers girls face in completing their education, but World Vision are determined to help as many girls as possible. They recently launched the 1000 Girls campaign, which seeks sponsorship for 1000 girls before the 11th of October, which is International Day of the Girl. The campaign aims to keep girls in schools, and also educate them about their rights. We find out more about the campaign from Winnie Khor, the Head of Resource Development at World Vision Malaysia, and we also speak to Di, a young Vietnamese girl and recipient of the child sponsorship program run by World Vision, who went from near child bride to becoming the first girl in her village to enter university. She'll be sharing her story with us too, which will be translated from Vietnamese to English by Nga Vu (Sponsorship Manager, World Vision Vietnam).

Produced by: Juliet Jacobs, Amanda Loi

Presented by: Juliet Jacobs

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Categories:  international,  education,  Law/Activism

Tags:  world vision,  poverty,  child marriage,  gender-based discrimination,  girls education,  gender equality,  vietnam,