Girls' equality organisation Plan International Australia is calling on the Australian Government and major donors to step up and target funding and support towards the 240 million adolescent girls in the Asia Pacific who are at risk of being left behind.
The war in the Middle East is already triggering a cascading crisis across the Asia-Pacific, as fuel and fertiliser shortages drive food insecurity and economic instability. Fuel rationing is now underway in some countries, while nations including Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea, heavily reliant on imports, are acutely exposed to rising costs. As fuel prices surge, the cost of transport, food and basic goods follows, pushing vulnerable households deeper into poverty. The consequent risks for adolescent girls are severe: increased gender-based violence, more girls forced out of school and into work, and rising rates of child marriage.
Plan International, which has worked with vulnerable communities in the region for more than 50 years, says adolescent girls remain largely invisible in aid and philanthropy. Yet evidence shows that when supported, they hold the keys to lifting entire communities out of poverty. Gender focused funding still overwhelmingly prioritises adult women, leaving adolescent girls' distinct and critical needs unmet during their most formative years.
Less than 1% of global aid is currently targeted specifically to adolescent girls, even though evidence consistently shows that investment during adolescence delivers the highest returns - improving education, health, economic participation and long-term stability for entire communities. Investing early in a girl's life, before inequality, violence and poverty become entrenched, is where the investment will go furthest.
The call comes as the global gender equality conference Women Deliver begins this week in Naarm (Melbourne) — the first time the event has been hosted in the Oceanic Pacific region. A coalition of 22 leading aid, development and gender organisations, alongside philanthropic partners, has joined forces to highlight the disproportionate and devastating impacts of climate change, conflict, economic instability, global aid cuts, and a growing anti-rights movement on adolescent girls.
The coalition is also underscoring the economic case for investing in adolescent girls in the Asia Pacific – one of the largest demographic groups globally – for Australia and other donor countries in our region. Targeted investment across the priority areas of the Australian Government's International Gender Equality Strategy would significantly improve outcomes for girls while strengthening resilience across communities and accelerating broader development goals.
Adolescence is a critical window in time where a girl's entire future is decided based on the investments and opportunities she receives. While progress has been made over the past three decades, millions of girls remain out of school, lack access to essential health services, and face heightened risks of child marriage, female genital mutilation, violence and abuse.
Globally, one in five girls still marries before the age of 18, which is equivalent to one girl every three seconds. Child marriage significantly increases the risk of violence and entrenches cycles of poverty, with lost education and opportunities rarely recovered.
Plan International Australia is calling for the world to push back against these threats and demand increased support for adolescent girls.
Plan International Australia CEO Susanne Legena said:
"The ripple effects of the Middle East crisis and fuel shortages across Asia are deeply concerning and risk undermining already fragile economies and communities.
"But adolescent girls represent a powerful solution, and could be a turning point in all of this. Their resilience and determination are extraordinary. They are powerful agents of change. When their rights are upheld and their leadership is nurtured, they help build fairer, safer, and more sustainable communities. Supporting girls to thrive benefits not only them, but entire families, communities, and economies.
"When we invest in girls, everything changes. Girls become women with choices, and entire communities rise with them."
Kary, a 23-year-old proud Indigenous woman from the Praov ethnic group in Cambodia, is just one example of how investing in girls transforms communities. At just 13, Kary faced pressure from her parents and community members to marry and leave school. Kary, who had taken part in Plan International's educational programs to end child and early forced marriage, pushed back, stayed in school, and is now the first woman in her village to attend university, where she studies psychology. She also leads peer-to-peer educational forums with adolescents in her home community and has empowered a generation of girls and boys to advocate to stop child and early forced marriage – which has now dropped by 65% in her village.
"Without the support I received, my future could have looked very different. I could have left my dreams behind. I know I am one of the lucky girls who were able to break this barrier. My story is not the reality for so many girls, here in Cambodia and across the region," she said.
At Women Deliver this week, thousands of adolescent girls from across the world will open a window into their lives, the barriers they face, their leadership and the possibilities that emerge when girls are supported to thrive. Plan International youth delegates from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Australia, Tanzania, and Ghana will speak at more than 20 events over the three-day conference.
Ms Legena will speak at a plenery session on conflict titled Women Are Not Negotiable: Conflict, Power and Accountability alongside award-winning Rohingya human rights advocate Noor Azizah, former NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Adern, Palestinian musician Simona Abdallah, Palestinian advocate Tamam Abusalama and June Oscar AO, a proud Bunuba woman and internationally recognised advocate for First Nations social justice and women's issues.
Plan International Australia is calling on the Australian Government to commit $50 million in its International Gender Equality Strategy over four years for initiatives that explicitly benefit adolescent girls across education, health, violence prevention, climate response and economic participation, and take measures to increase the participation and visibility of adolescent girls across its aid program
"If Australia wants its aid to work harder, investing in girls early is one of the smartest and most cost-effective choices it can make. If we fail to act now, we risk failing an entire generation of girls," said Ms Legena.
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