The Reality of Girls
An observatory about girls’ realities in Latin America and the Caribbean
An initiative of Plan International’s Regional Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean and Fundación PLAN, The Reality of Girls observatory aims to collect, organise and systematise information from 13 countries (Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru) in the region regarding issues related to the rights of girls and adolescents, such as:
- Education
- Early marriages and unions
- Forced child pregnancy
- Teenage pregnancy
- Gender-based violence.
This virtual platform contains evidence that enables the analysis of data on the situation of girls, and has thus far collected information from official databases which are reliable and periodically updated and have appropriate levels of disaggregation for its users’ interest and analysis.
The observatory presents and aims this data for all audiences, thus working to increase knowledge and strengthen advocacy processes at regional and national levels, as well as achieve improvements in decision-making processes.
Education component
The observatory’s component on education collects data on social inequality regarding education in Latin America and the Caribbean, and disaggregates it for each country by locality (rural and urban areas) and by sex, thus allowing a deeper comprehension of inequalities, including gender. Unfortunately, in many countries such information is not available at the departmental or provincial level.
Moreover, to grasp girls’ challenges regarding access to education, school attendance and learning, it is important to consider other vulnerability indicators. Thus, education variables are related to gender-based violence, early pregnancy and forced marriages and unions indicators to provide a deeper understanding of the challenges that mainly affect girls.
The following links relate impact data on the sub-regions and countries most affected by regional migration emergencies, such as Central America’s Northern Triangle and Venezuela, as well as on other countries affected by high levels of vulnerability at the regional level. In these countries, Plan International focuses its response on the needs of girls and adolescents, since emergency situations expose them even more to violence, early pregnancy, child, early and forced marriages and unions and other forms of abuse, thus hindering their learning processes, their access to education and their educational transition and completion.
Download the detailed report of the Observatory about Education
The Reality of Girls – Education component
2.41 mb
Visit the observatory
The Reality of Girls Observatory is a site in Spanish and Portuguese. An English version is envisaged in the near future.