Girl Effect: Ending the poverty cycle

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Kanwal AhluwaliaKanwal Ahluwalia of Girl Effect talks about empowering girls to end the cycle of poverty.

Could adolescent girls be the key to ending the cycle of poverty passed on from generation to generation? The Girl Effect movement believes the answer is yes!

Launched at the 2009 World Economic Summit, Girl Effect, and its partners, challenged the world to see girls not as part of the global poverty problem, but as co-creators of solutions. It wants to develop a new kind of brand for girls.

“It’s a sobering thought that nowhere in the world have we actually achieved gender equality. So, we know we’ve made progress but, actually, there’s still quite a long way to go,” said Kanwal Ahluwalia, who oversees Girl Effect’s Impact Team.

Girl Effect: Ending the poverty cycle

Kanwal Ahluwalia of Girl Effect talks about how girls are the key to ending the cycle of poverty.


The organization brings together insights from adolescent girls to make this new branding a possibility.

“What we also do is clubs in which girls connect and that’s a space for them to really come together, as peers,” Ahluwalia explained. “This is a safe space for them, where they have mentors and where they’re able to learn life skills.”

From London, Kanwal Ahluwalia joined Mike Walter in our New York studio.