Nepal has an unprecedented opportunity to focus on the power of girls to drive progress and transform the country, the United Nations Population Fund said.

Issuing a statement on the eve of the International Day of the Girl Child, the UN body said by prominently featuring girls’ rights in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development last month, the international community has responded enthusiastically to the evidence that investing in girls yields huge returns.

“Ensuring that girls are able to exercise their rights, can pursue their education and have the skills and opportunity to join the workforce is essential for their own well-being, and a critical foundation for the health and prosperity of families, communities and nations,” said Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA executive director.

However, despite advances in recent years, girls continue to suffer severe disadvantages, discrimination and exclusion, merely for being young and being female. The statement also mentions that when girls are free to define their lives and enjoy their rights, they not only enjoy better health and healthier children; they are also better able to contribute to national development as economic actors and entrepreneurs, helping their countries reap a demographic dividend and driving

economic growth.

“UNFPA will continue to work with the Government of Nepal, the United Nations system and civil society to make this vision a reality. We commit to the bold pledge of the 2030 Agenda to leave no one behind and to prioritise investment in girls as the smart choice for the health and prosperity of Nepal,” Osotimehin said.

He also stressed on the need to increase efforts to end child marriage, and other harmful practices affecting girls and most critically, keep them in school—whether they live in rural or urban areas, whether they are pregnant or not and whether they are married or single.