Isabelle, the one smiling in the blue sweater, is 16 years old. What’s right?  She is healthy. She is carrying crystal clear water from a tap just minutes from her home.  She is in school.  She’s among the top 5 in her class.  And she is not married. 

World Vision believes that ending extreme poverty is possible, but it won’t happen as long as half the population is held back from reaching their full potential. The evidence is indisputable, when girls and women get equal access and opportunity - progress is accelerated, families are stronger, and communities are more prosperous.

The reality is, women and girls living in poverty face significant barriers in every area of their lives. That’s why we focus on equipping and empowering women and girls in all areas of our work.

One of Basanti's Girl Power Groups

“As a neighbor, I saw the wedding related activities and got suspicious,” says Rojina, a 16-year-old from a village in Basanti. She knew Ajmira from school and was concerned when she saw the planning going on at her home.

Ajmira confirmed her suspicions when they met in school. “My parents are forcing me to get married,” Ajmira told Rojina. Ajmira is only fourteen. This plunged Rojina into sadness. What was she to do? “Before World Vision, I did not know child marriage was wrong. But now I know, and I found out my neighbor was getting married,” says Rojina.

Rojina decided to confide in her best friend Regina, 17. Both girls are part of World Vision’s Girl Power group, which teaches girls to keep themselves and their friends safe. Regina says, “If we go directly, they won’t listen to us and they will scold us. They might even take their daughter somewhere and get her married in secret. Being a child and we are girls...will they listen to us?” This way of thinking percolates from the elders in the community to the children. A girl child is low in the “pecking order” - girls are rarely allowed to express their own thoughts or feelings, and they are not taught to speak with confidence in public settings. These cultural pressures create an environment where girls fear telling the truth or seeking help from adults. They feel helpless when they, or their friends, experience abuse through child marriage, rape or physical violence.

After 20 years, a circumciser in Kenya laid down her tools—a knife and a razor blade. World Vision helps girls, boys, and communities to stand against the dangerous, damaging practice of Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting. (©2000 World Vision/photo by Winnie Ogana)

Each year, more than 3 million girls are at risk of Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting (FGM/C). February 6, the United Nations’ International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, is a time to bring this serious issue to light.

Girls’ rights are violated and their potential crushed when they are subjected to FGM/C and have their external genitalia cut. Best estimates are that 200 million women and girls alive today have suffered FGM/C. There is no medical reason for this traditional practice, and no benefit for the girl. Girls who have been cut often experience life-long dire effects, such as pain, infections, bleeding, difficult childbirth, and incontinence.

Nearly 3.5 million children and youth participate in World Vision discipleship and values education to strengthen their faith, their relationships, and their sense of self-worth. (©2018 World Vision/photo by Jon Warren)

At Christmas, we celebrated the birth of Jesus — the Light of the World. Through all of our work and throughout the year, we follow Jesus in spreading his light, to “shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, NIV).

Our work to reduce material poverty goes hand-in-hand with our work in Christian discipleship to overcome spiritual poverty. Children cannot truly experience fullness of life unless they have the opportunity to experience and deepen their understanding of God’s love.

In the next five years, World Vision has a plan to expand our work to engage at least 2.5 million people in activities that strengthen the Christian faith of children and youth.

There are five main areas in which we help children experience the love of God:

In Bangladesh, Shohug’s father died when he was 5, leaving him to help provide for his family. Through World Vision, Shohug, 10, can still go to school, even while he helps his mom sell homemade lentil chips. Please join us in prayer for children like Shohug. (©2017 World Vision/photo by Laura Reinhardt)

Children are a precious gift from God. As adults, we have the privilege and responsibility to care for them and help them live the full and abundant life God desires for them. Tragically, love and security are not the reality for three-quarters of the world’s children who experience some form of violence every year.

It is hard to accept, but the reality for the majority of children is a life of violence, and for some, exploitation. At least 1.7 billion of the 2.2 billion children in the world experience violence every year, in their homes, schools, or communities.

Global leaders have committed to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030.  And for the first time in modern history, the world is coming to the collective realization that it is possible to completely end extreme poverty in our lifetimes.  World Vision is leading the charge on a variety of fronts, including equipping, educating and empowering smallholder farmers break the cycle of generational poverty that has held their families back.  Until now.

The evidence is indisputable.  When girls and women have better access and opportunity, progress is accelerated.  Children are better cared for, families are stronger, and communities are more prosperous.  World Vision has been deeply engaged in gender equality work for decades.  It’s integrated into everything we do—  at every stage of a girl’s life.  

World Humanitarian Day, celebrated every year on Aug. 19, is a global celebration of people helping people. Elsie Gomes, a longtime World Vision Bangladesh staff member, deployed earlier this year to Cox’s Bazar in southeast Bangladesh to help with the Myanmar refugee crisis response. Here is her perspective on her time working with refugees in the camps.

Essential human rights, liberty, and dignity are being torn from millions of people today. They’re sexually exploited, forced into labor, domestic servitude, and thrown into begging and stealing in an illicit multi-billion-dollar enterprise known as human trafficking.

Every year on July 30, World Vision observes World Day Against Trafficking in Persons by highlighting the importance of protecting vulnerable children and adults from all forms of exploitation and violence.

Every year on July 30, World Vision observes World Day Against Trafficking in Persons by highlighting the importance of protecting vulnerable children and adults from all forms of exploitation and violence.

Nearly 25 million people worldwide are trapped by trafficking, including 5.5 million children. In Guatemala, World Vision is working with parents, pastors, teachers, children, and youth to make trafficking history by ending violence and restoring hope.