[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 158 (Tuesday, October 27, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7541-S7542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                OBSERVING INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL

  Mr. KIRK. Mr. President, October 11 marked the second annual 
International Day of the Girl. This day

[[Page S7542]]

brings together people and advocacy groups to raise awareness about the 
challenges facing girls around the world. Tragically, today's regional 
crises are having a disproportionately destructive impact on girls. 
2015 marks the year with the highest number of displaced persons since 
World War II. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Refugees, women and girls comprise half of any refugee or internally 
displaced population. Crises such as the ongoing conflict in Syria, 
over 1.5 million displaced in South Sudan, and the expanding migrant 
crisis in Europe, among others, risk leaving an entire generation of 
girls shaped by a lack of opportunity, gender-based violence, forced 
marriage, and disrupted education.
  Access to education is often a top priority for refugee families upon 
resettling in a foreign country. We know that, if empowered with the 
appropriate tools, girls can be facilitators of change who can 
transform their own lives, as well as the lives of their families, 
communities, and societies and serve as a bulwark against the 
conditions that contribute to extremism that so many terrorist groups 
have exploited, often at the expense of women and girls. The lack of 
access to education for refugee girls stifles empowerment and stands in 
the way of achieving a durable solution to conflict.
  As the United States and the international community work to cope 
with the current refugee crisis, it is critical that we focus not only 
on security but on the basic needs of refugees, such as access to 
education and increasing the role of women and girls in humanitarian 
response and civil society programs.

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