30 years of uneven progress for adolescent girls
7 March 2025Ahead of International Women’s Day, a new UNICEF, Plan International and UN Women report highlights that gains have been made for adolescent girls but efforts remain insufficient.
Despite significant achievements in areas such as education over the last three decades, millions of adolescent girls across the world today are still out of school, ill-equipped for the future, facing gaps in life-saving health services, and at risk of harmful practices such as child marriage, female genital mutilation, violence and abuse.
A new report Girl Goals: What has changed for girls? Adolescent girls’ rights over 30 years – launched by UNICEF, Plan International and UN Women ahead of International Women’s Day – reviews how adolescent girls’ lives have changed in the last 30 years since the Beijing Platform for Action was endorsed by 189 governments in 1995.
Key facts
Key facts from the report include:
Education, training and digital skills
- Despite a 39 per cent decrease in out-of-school girls in the last 20 years, 122 million girls remain out of school globally. Adolescent girls aged 15-19 in South Asia are three times more likely than boys to not be in school, employment or training.
- Nearly 4 in 10 adolescent girls and young women globally do not complete upper secondary school, with girls from rural poor backgrounds and marginalized communities even less likely to complete schooling.
- While the number of adolescent girls and young women who are illiterate has nearly halved in the last three decades, nearly 50 million adolescent girls and young women today are unable to read or write a simple sentence.
- 9 out of 10 adolescent girls and young women in low-income countries do not have access to the internet, while their male peers are twice as likely to be online.
Gender-based violence
- Nearly 1 in 4 adolescent girls who have been married or partnered have experienced intimate partner violence worldwide, and 50 million girls alive today have experienced sexual violence.
- More than a third of adolescent girls and boys aged 15-19 globally consider a husband to be justified in hitting his wife under certain circumstances.
Adolescent girls are a powerful force for global change.
Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UNICEF.
Harmful practices
- The practice of female genital mutilation is declining, with countries including Burkina Faso and Liberia halving the share of girls subjected to the practice over the last 30 years. However, the global rate of decline needs to be 27 times faster to meet the 2030 eradication target.
- Girls today are less likely to marry under the age of 18, compared to 25 years ago. Still, 1 in 5 girls globally marry in childhood. The most progress has been made in South Asia while Latin America and the Caribbean has observed no progress over the last 25 years.
Health and wellbeing
- Globally, the number of adolescent girls giving birth has nearly halved over the past 30 years. Still, nearly 12 million adolescent girls aged 15-19 are expected to give birth in 2025. Among younger adolescent girls (aged 10-14), for whom the risk of pregnancy is even more grave, this number is estimated to be more than 325,000.
- Complications from pregnancy and childbirth account for roughly 1 in every 23 deaths among adolescent girls aged 15-19, worldwide.
- Globally, the proportion of underweight adolescent girls aged 10-19 has declined slightly in the last three decades, from 10 per cent to 8 per cent.
There is much to celebrate – but at the same time, this progress is fragile, uneven, and constantly under threat.
Kathleen Sherwin, Chief Strategy and Engagement Officer for Plan International.
Need for urgent global action
The report lays bare the urgent need for global action to unlock the enormous potential of adolescent girls and puts forward the following recommendations:
- Elevating adolescent girls’ voices and supporting their advocacy to shape policymaking on the issues that affect their lives.
- Focusing on areas where progress has stalled and is a top priority for adolescent girls themselves – for example on closing the education, skills and training gap for girls – while considering new global trends and attitudes.
- Using data-driven evidence to invest where gaps are largest and most pressing for adolescent girls, focusing on changes at scale and joint targeted action – with a greater focus on economic empowerment and ensuring girls have the skills, assets and resources they need to thrive.
Too many adolescent girls still face violence, limited education, and lack of health services.
Sima Bahous, Executive Director, UN Women.
Girls are a force for global change
“Adolescent girls are a powerful force for global change. With the right support at the right time, they can help deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and reshape our world,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Investments in critical areas such as education, skills, protection and essential health and nutrition services can unlock the potential of adolescent girls across the world and lift-up communities and countries.”
Kathleen Sherwin, Chief Strategy and Engagement Officer for Plan International, added: “Tireless efforts to combat gender inequality mean that a girl’s chances of going to school are significantly higher than three decades ago, and her chances of marrying or becoming pregnant as a child much lower. There is much to celebrate – but at the same time, this progress is fragile, uneven, and constantly under threat. Too many girls continue to face discrimination and abuse every day, simply for being young and female. Our work to achieve equality for girls must continue, working with girls, women and their allies around the world.”
“Too many adolescent girls still face violence, limited education, and lack of health services. Our promise of leaving no one behind demands urgent action,” said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous. “We have come a long way, but we have miles to go before every girl’s potential is recognized and protected. Empowering all adolescent girls is the surest investment in a more sustainable, equitable, and peaceful world.”
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