"The surest way to keep people down is to educate the men and neglect the women. If you educate a man you simply educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family."

- Dr. J. E. Kwegyir Aggrey, a visionary Ghanian educator (1875–1927)

"Girls and Women are the moral issue of our time."
- The New York Times

"Out of the world's 130 million out-of-the school youth, 70% are girls."
- UN Foundation

"An extra year of secondary schooling has been demonstrated to increase women's future wages by 10-20%."
- Education Economics

"Women and girls are not the problem; they are the solution."
- Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

The Belinda Stronach Foundation - Girls and Women:

In many parts of the world, women are routinely beaten, raped or sold into prostitution. They are denied access to medical care and education. Sadly, only 43 per cent of girls in developing regions attend secondary school and in sub-Saharan Africa only 83 girls are enrolled in school for every 100 boys.

According to the World Bank, an extra year of school can increase a girl’s future earnings by 10 to 20 per cent and girls who attend secondary school have the power to make $2000 more per year than those who only attend primary school – now multiply that by all of the out of school girls and the impact on development is enormous.

TBSF is working with the private sector and a number of national and global organizations to encourage G8 and G20 leaders to elevate the importance of political empowerment and economic freedom for girls and women in developed and developing nations. At the Clinton Global Initiative in September of 2009, TBSF made a commitment to Promoting Development in the G8/G20 Summit Process. TBSF committed to create a platform that aims to provide greater coordination of global advocacy efforts for the 2010 G8/G20 Summits and to promote and educate the Canadian public on development issues. As an engaged Canadian charitable organization with a track record on global development issues and a strong capacity in policy management and public communications, we will work with strategic partners to champion key issues affecting girls and women and provide opportunities for the public to lend their support to their advancement worldwide.

The G(irls)20 Summit 2011 comes to a successful close

From October 18 - 21, 2011, The Belinda Stronach Foundation together with over 50 non-profit, corporate partners and foundations hosted the G(irls)20 Summit 2011 in Paris, France.

The Summit is modeled after the G20; bringing together one delegate from each G20 country, and a representative from the African Union. The delegates debate, discuss and design innovative ideas that are necessary to empower girls and women globally. While the agenda is the same as that of the G20 leaders and focuses on economic innovation – the participants are all girls, aged 18-20.

The G(irls)20 Summit 2011 delegates participated in panel discussions with themes like 'How to use your platform to empower girls and women' and 'The commoditization of girls and women', attended workshops that focused on navigating the digital world and building successful business plans, and presented a Communiqué (see section below) that provides a blueprint on how to utilize and engage one of the best resources in the world – girls and women.

Visit http://www.girlsandwomen.com for more information.

The G(irls)20 Summit 2011 Communiqué

October 21, 2011 - We, the delegates of the 2011 G(irls)20 Summit, celebrate the importance of girls and women as champions of development and progress including Nobel Peace Prize winners President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman; the new Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde; and all of the women who fought courageously for their nations’ and their own rights in the recent "Arab Spring".

Download the English Communiqué

Download the French Communiqué

Initiatives Focused on the Advancement of Girls and Women

Gallery

MEDIA

November 18, 2011
Young Women in Law Charity Gala a Bustling Affair

Ethic
November 2, 2011
Un G-20 para mejorar la vida de ninas y mujeres

Queen's University - The Journal
October 28, 2011
Student represents Canada in Paris summit

Blisstree
October 24, 2011
Lack of confidence impacts sexual health of women and girls, says Girls 20 delegate

The Globe and Mail
October 22, 2011
G(irls) can change the world - one summit at a time

The Grindstone
October 21, 2011
Tara Suri vowed to end female infanticide at 13 years old

Blisstree
October 21, 2011
A failed carbon emission project makes a winner at Girls 20 Summit

Girl Up
October 20, 2011
Girl power in Paris!

Women in the World
October 19, 2011
Girl Power: Advice for the G20 leaders from 21 Girl leaders

Huffpost Living
October 19, 2011
A new kind of Saudi woman

CBC - The Strombo Show
October 18, 2011
The G(irls)20 Summit Works to Empower Women and Girls

UN Women
October 18, 2011
Message of UN Women Executive Director, Michelle Bachelet, at the Girls 20 Summit

The Globe and Mail
October 18, 2011
G(irls) 20 Summit aims to give voice to 10 million child brides

Huffpost Living
October 18, 2011
How girls can change the world

The Globe and Mail
October 16, 2011
G(irls)20 Summit aims for empowerment

Toronto Star
October 10, 2011
Girls 20 summit: She can't ride a bike but she can change the world

Young Innovations Europe
October 6, 2011
G(irls)20 Summit 2011

Women 24
September 23, 2011
The G(irls)20 Summit 2011

Archived news items

TBSF in attendance at the Governor General's Together for Women's Security Conference 2010:

Message from Belinda Stronach on the Occasion of International Women's Day 2010

International Women's Day is a day to recognize the economic, political and social achievements of women past and present. The theme this year Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all reflects the fact that when you empower a woman, you empower her family, her community and her country.

Here in Canada, while we continue to have challenges around the advancement of girls and women, we can see the impact women have had on the development of Canada as a peaceful, stable and just society.

In developing countries one person in eight is a girl or a young woman age 10 to 24. These girls and women possess the ability to become fully engaged citizens if given the opportunity. We can start by providing them with education, legal protection, health care, and access to training and job skills. Professor Jeffrey Sachs, one of the architects of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, has identified the education of girls at secondary school age as one of the most effective ways to increase real measurable impact in global development.

A girl who finishes high school has access to a job that pays more than subsistence wages and the chance to start a small business. Educated women invest 90% of their incomes into their families compared to roughly 30% by their male counterparts.

As our nation prepares to host both the G8 and G20 Summits in June 2010, Canada must use this historic opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the advancement of girls and women worldwide. Canada must take the lead and put girls and women at the centre of the development narrative. Doing so will yield huge returns in global economic development and political stability.

Donate to help support the G(irls)20 Summit program

Belinda's Place... Hope for women without a home

For more information on 'Belinda's Place,' please visit: www.belindasplace.ca