Advance the Rights of Adolescent Girls

We strengthen grassroots programs and advance global policies that ensure adolescent girls get the information, services, skills, and support they need to protect their health and human rights. We believe that girls must be able to control their lives and bodies in order to live up to their full potential.

Helping Young Women and Girls Thrive in Kenya’s Kisumu County

Southwestern Kenya has the worst statistics in the country with respect to teen pregnancies and STIs amongst girls, and high rates of maternal mortality, and unsafe abortions. Monica Oguttu talks about what her organization, KMET, is doing to help adolescent girls and young women be healthy and thrive.

The Girl Declaration: A Call to Action for the Post-2015 Development Agenda

We asked 508 adolescent girls living in poverty in 14 countries around the world about their hopes and dreams, the challenges they face in their lives and the solutions they think are most important.

Taking the Mystery out of Menstruation

By Michelle Truong
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May 26, 2017

Many girls in developing countries start their periods uninformed, unprepared, scared, and ashamed, according to a new literature review. They need more support in understanding and handling menstruation.

Girls Empowered: Building on Progress from 2016

By IWHC Staff
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May 25, 2017

IWHC and our many local partners are not afraid to conduct hard-hitting advocacy to defend girls’ rights and hold leaders accountable to their promises.

From Baltimore to Bangladesh, Let’s End Child Marriage

By Helena Minchew
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May 10, 2017

Every year, 15 million girls around the world, including in the US, are married before they turn 18—a violation of their human rights.

We Can’t Let Progress on Girls’ Health and Education Falter

By Helena Minchew
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March 23, 2017

Just as US-funded programs for girls and gender equality are truly getting underway, the rug may be pulled out from under them.

Let’s Text About Sex: A Mobile Phone Program Delivers Sexuality Education

By Slawa Rokicki
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February 21, 2017

Integrating an innovative mobile phone program into CSE toolkits could be an effective way for countries in the Global South to make progress on reducing infant and maternal mortality, keeping girls in school, and securing a healthy future for the next generation.