Violence

Fifteen years ago in Beijing world leaders promised to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls. Yet today, thousands of young girls all over the world still face violence that no one, let alone a child, should ever know. It can take different forms: daily physical and psychological abuse, rape, forced marriages, sex-trafficking, so called “honour killings”, or kidnapping. Much of the suffering remains hidden behind shame, fear, ignorance or indifference. UN... More

Teen Pregnancy

In this episode, we hear the stories of some 15 year old girls who became pregnant. Teen pregnancy continues to cause serious health, social and economic problems for the girls and their families. Yet many adolescents have little or no access to reliable information and services to protect themselves or make their own decisions about their sexual reproductive health. And the consequences can be life-altering, as we hear in this report. Listen: Teen Pregnancy [audio:http://downloads.unmultimedia.org/radio/en/ltd/mp3/2010/project15_Pregnancy.mp3|titles=Teen... More

Health

Adolescence can be a confusing, stressful and frightening period. During this transition from childhood to adulthood, changes are happening both physically and emotionally. We are living with the largest generation of adolescents ever, some 1.8 billion. According to health experts, it’s also the unhealthiest generation in decades. Girls are especially vulnerable. Harmful attitudes and practices such as early sexual relations and pregnancy, genital mutilation, and drug use... More

Education & Employment

Fifteen years ago, the international community agreed in the Beijing Platform for Action, to ensure, among many objectives, that girls and women should have equal and adequate access to education.  Since then, some progress has been made; But still too many girls struggle to achieve adequate education. In fact, all over the world, girls make up more than half the number of adolescents who are out of school worldwide. UN Radio traveled to Africa, Europe and Latin America... More