Girl Summit 2014

Today, July 22, 2014, the Government of the United Kingdom hosts the first Girl Summit, aimed at mobilizing domestic and international efforts to end female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) within a generation. The Summit, co-hosted by UNICEF, brings together women, girls and community leaders as well as governments, international organizations and the private sector to agree on action to end FGM and CEFM. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah and U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Catherine Russell are co-leading the U.S. delegation to London to participate in the Girl Summit.

USAID has long recognized that sustainable development will only be possible when women and girls enjoy equal opportunity to rise to their potential. The U.S. Government will continue to partner with communities to raise awareness and improve the health of women and girls suffering from the consequences of FGM/C, and to strive through diplomacy, policies and programming to eliminate this form of gender-based violence both in the United States and internationally. The United States also invests in preventing and responding to early, forced marriage through research to expand our knowledge of effective interventions to prevent the practice and programs to address the needs of married adolescents.

Learn More

• Read more about the Girl Summit
• Read the USAID Fact Sheets: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: United States Government's Response and Child, Early, and Forced Marriage: United States Government's Response
• Follow @USAIDGH and use #GirlSummit to join in the conversation
• Read USAID's Vision for Action to End Child Marriage [PDF, 463KB]
• Read the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally [PDF, 1.5MB]

Photo credit: Jane Silcock/USAID