How much longer???

How much longer???... We thought we’ve heard the last of it with Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani girl who first gained international attention for being shot in the head and nearly killed by the Taliban for advocating for girls education in Pakistan. No - no - no we have not and oh no! We have not. But one thing is for sure, that the Voices haven’t stop shouting, the cries are even louder and the determination of young girls and women to make their voices heard is surging.

Only this week the media reported the burning to death of a 15-year-old girl by elders in her community for helping her friend escape with her boyfriend. Just this morning as I embarked on writing this piece another young girl who, only at the age of 9 years burnt all her girls’ clothing to dress as a boy so as to have the opportunity to be free in order to play her best sport – squash.

As a new member of the World Pulse platform I am amazed by the stories I have read, some of them so real that I feel the journal authors are telling my own stories. But I would say it is platforms like World Pulse that give us our voices and surely those voices must be heard if there is to be a way forward for achieving the MDG 3 i.e. to promote gender equality and women empowerment.

Most of us have probably heard about the street kids in Brazil But have you heard about the street women and their street children of Addis Ababa – Ethiopia?

Watch this space….. As their stories will give you goose bumps.

Yes how much longer???