Brazilian teenage girls to turn in Girl Declaration at UN

Two public high-school students, Luiza, from Rio de Janeiro, and Irlane, from Maranhão, both aged 17, are flying to New York today (Sep. 23). They are going to represent Brazil at the United Nations (UN) Assembly, where they are expected to hand the Girl Declaration to world leaders.

The teenage girls took part in the project Essa é Minha Vez! (“It's my turn now!”, in a free English translation), carried out by the British children's rights NGO Plan International Brasil. The goal is to urge governments to include the girls' demands on the sustainable development agenda to be submitted this week, the NGO's Manager for Program Strategies Gabriel Barbosa told Agência Brasil.

Health care, education, protection, and professional training are the priorities listed in the Brazilian declaration, which will be incorporated into the documents drafted by girls from three other developing countries: the Philippines, Kenya, and Pakistan. “Those are the most important topics to the girls,” Luiza said. She believes the fight for girls' rights should be intensified, along with the enforcement of women's rights in the country.

It is the first time this declaration is made. Luiza and Irlane were chosen from a group of 86 girls scattered throughout the country. “I'm really excited, and also extremely happy, because it's nice to know that my voice will be heard. When I speak, I don't do it just for me, but also for all girls in Brazil,” Luiza said.

Irlane knows there is still a long way to go before the demands in the declaration can become a reality. “But it's nothing that hard work and a good team can't do. The project is making progress and everything's possible,” said the adolescent, who had a chance to give the document to the president during Rousseff's visit to Maranhão. The official delivery to Brazil's head of state will take place at the UN Assembly.

Whereas Luiza plans to study Political Sciences at the university, Irlane will take the National High School Examination (Enem) in October, as she intends to go to college and study Chemical or Petroleum Engineering.

SDGs

Gabriel Barbosa explained that the Girl Declaration aims to document what the adolescent girls managed to identify and suggest as possible targets for investment under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to Barbosa, the girls express themselves in such a way that the government at all three levels—federal, state, and municipal—can understand what they think, what the main challenges are, and the initiatives and suggestions they would like to bring forward.

Barbosa declared that Brazil was invited to take part in the project after it showed significant progress in the fulfillment of the millennium goals, set 15 years ago, which include targets related to the eradication of hunger and poverty. He noted that the SDG's come into effect this year.

According to Brazil's Foreign Ministry, the process got started in 2013, and the SDG's should guide national policies and international cooperation strategies in the upcoming 15 years, superseding the Millenium Development Goals (MDG's).

Barbosa further said that the step to be taken after the UN Assembly should be finding out how Brazil will make the investments to meet the goals established.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira