It’s when the 600 million adolescent girls in the developing world get a chance to grow into healthy, active and educated members of their societies. When this occurs, the girls will transform their families and communities prospects, ensuring that The Millennium Development Goals* are met. To watch an amazing Marta goal! ————————————————————————————————————-
A step in this direction, in inspiring girls globally, occurred at a ceremony in Stockholm, when The United Nations Development Programme appointed women’s football player Marta Vieira da Silva as a Goodwill Ambassador.
Known to her fans simply as Marta she will, as a Goodwill Ambassador, advocate for women’s empowerment as a means to fight poverty. Joining a very impressive squad of UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors, including soccer stars Ronaldo, Zidane and Didier Drogba, Japanese actress Misako Konno, Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway, Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova and Spanish actor Antonio Banderas.
“I have been given opportunities to succeed in life, but I constantly think about the ones who did not have this chance. We all need to contribute to help defeat poverty.” Marta said. Marta was given an opportunity to flourish in Sweden, scoring an outstanding 111 goals in 103 appearances between 2004 and 2008, and she has won the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year four years in a row, from 2006 to 2009.
When we step on the field we are all champions, creating a ripple effect inspiring girls to make a difference in the world!
*The Millennium Development Goals, a set of eight globally agreed targets that seek to halve world poverty by 2015 by combating hunger, disease, illiteracy, environment degradation and discrimination against women.
*The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.
What IS the Girl Effect?
