African Girls in the COVID-19 Pandemic (link only)

As countries across Africa experience the impact of COVID-19 across health systems, economies and communities, progress made in the last decade in achieving the rights of adolescent girls’ risks being lost. African governments must act in urgency to address this “invisible crisis" and protect the important gains made to protect, and empower girls over the last decade.

Girls and young women, especially the most marginalized, are particularly affected by the secondary impacts of the outbreak, due to preexisting harmful social and gender norms and multiple forms of discrimination based on their age, gender and other exclusion factors. Of serious concern are the rising cases of violence girls and young women are facing as well as increasing exposure to harmful practices including Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) and Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM).

Plan International is warning that emerging evidence of rights violations from multiple African countries threatens a generation of girls and young women across the continent. The COVID-19 crisis presents a double jeopardy for girls and young women, as it will set back progress made in achieving gender equality. It is worsening multiple ongoing humanitarian emergencies, including complex protracted crises that have already gravely impacted girls’ access to basic services, rights, and freedoms across the continent.