The global survey was conducted by Plan International to support girls in raising the key issues they want to see addressed in the 25th anniversary commemoration of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – Generation Equality.

While the Girls’ Platform for Action report was being researched, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the delay and change in format of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW64) and the postponement of the Generation Equality Forum global gatherings in Mexico and Paris until 2021 which are all part of the Beijing+25 process. This set back the launch of the Action Coalitions, which presents an opportunity for adolescent voices to influence collective priorities and demand accountability around gender equality.

Girls are demanding a bigger and more active role in the Generation Equality process. Their other demands included investment in and support for girls’ leadership by enabling access to leadership platforms; ensuring free and equitable secondary education; and investing in sexual and reproductive health and rights – including access to free sanitary products, safe and legal abortions and contraceptives.

The report shows that the economic burden of COVID-19 has put immense pressure on families around the world and girls in particular, with 63% of them citing school closures as an immediate concern during the pandemic.

Adolescent girls are faced with increasing domestic care responsibilities and are being denied access to education, while this is less likely for boys. Girls are being left with a sense of abandonment and inferiority and the pandemic could undo much of the progress made in the 25 years since the Beijing Platform for Action set out its blueprint for women’s rights and gender equality.