Nepal’s aspiration to become a middle-income country and to attain the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 rests on how much it will invest in its young people, including teenage girls, which is the theme of this year’s World Population Day.

The teenage years are for some girls a time of exploration, learning and increasing autonomy. But for many others, it is a time of increasing vulnerability and exclusion from rights and opportunities, or just plain discrimination.

When a teenage girl has the power, the means and the information to make her own decisions in life, she is more likely to overcome obstacles that stand between her and a healthy, productive future. This will benefit her, her family and her community.

The international community has committed to a new sustainable development agenda built on the principles of equity and human rights.  A central objective of the Sustainable Development Goals is to leave no one behind.

Despite significant gains made in reducing poverty and improving opportunity and well-being for many people around the world, hundreds of millions remain desperate for a chance of a better future,  Among those least served by previous development initiatives are girls, particularly those in their formative teenage years.

Kabul 04 June 2016 – UNFPA, Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Deputy Ministry of Youth Affairs of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan organized a workshop to bring together the public and the private sectors and the international community to gather feedback on the draft of a National Action Plan to Eliminate Early and Child Marriage in Afghanistan.