This is an unprecedented year for global action. In September, 193 countries came together at the United Nations in New York City to adopt an agenda that is set to change the course of history and ensure a prosperous future for every person around the world, as well as our planet. And at a scale seen never before, issues integral to girls and women were incorporated in that fifteen-year plan, known as the Sustainable Development Goals, or Global Goals. These Global Goals, for the first time, also include specific measures focused on ending violence against women.

With sights set on the year 2030, Global Daily caught up with U.S. Ambassadors Cathy Russell and Deborah Birx on why they believe protecting and advancing the rights of girls, as well as ending violence against women is integral to the success of the Global Goals and the prosperity of people everywhere.

Conducted at the United Nations Foundation’s commemoration event for International Day of the Girl on October 11, what follows is our interview with U.S. Ambassador-at-large for Global Women’s Issues Cathy Russell, lightly edited for clarity. Stay tuned for an interview with U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Birx’s on World AIDS Days, December 1.

Global Daily: As you travel the world in your role for advancing women’s issues, is there a young woman that you’ve found particularly inspring?

Cathy Russell: How can I narrow it down? Honestly, there are so many of them. There is a girl who I met last year named Memory Banda. She was such an amazing woman from Malawi. Young. She told us this story about how her sister ended up married at 11 and had three kids by the time we met Memory. There was such a stark contrast between the two sisters, one who was forced into an early marriage and the other who managed to avoid it and get an education and is now an advocate for girls. I love that girl.

This year, I met a wonderful young woman named Jimena in Guatemala. She is so young, 12 years old. When I was 12 years old I was nervous around adults, much less people who someone said was an Ambassador. Jimena was completely unimpressed by this and just told us about the work she’d done in her community, where they have a lot of early marriages. She’s from an indigenous community in Guatemala where there are high rates of violence. Four years earlier, when she was eight, Jimena started working with other girls and teaching them about their rights. Which I thought was truly amazing. I mean how does that happen? She’s so inspiring – if she’s doing this at 12, I can’t even imagine what she’s’ going to be like when she’s older.

It’s very inspiring to see somebody who is talking about a pretty sophisticated concept, human rights, at the age of 12.

Honestly, there are so many girls like that out there, and on the one hand, it’s so inspiring, but it does also break your heart to hear their stories and the terrible things that’ve happened to them and to people they know. And you just have to keep your fingers crossed that they’re going to be the girls that get through and that ultimately they change things so that more and more girls get opportunities.

Global Daily: Was there something that made Jimena’s story particularly resonate with you?

Cathy Russell: You know, she was young, and that was striking to me that a girl who is 12 would even know what her rights are. Her parents were really young when they married and she was the second generation of that – life could have easily gone awry for her. She comes from a community where there are really a lot of challenges for these girls. And a lot of violence, a lot of sexual violence, and it’s very inspiring to see somebody who is talking about a pretty sophisticated concept, human rights, at the age of 12. That’s not a typical 12-year-old conversation, and the fact that she can find a way to communicate that to other girls I think is really powerful.

There are a lot of women that I’ve met where even notion that they have rights is completely foreign to them. And when you say that, and when you talk to them about it “You have rights as a human being. It’s not okay that you’re being beaten, it’s not okay.” And they’re like, “Really?” Honestly, it’s shocking. So, the notion that she’s doing that at her age is just incredibly powerful.

Global Daily: What’s your hope for Jimena and other girls like her in the year 2030, 15 years after the launch of the new Global Goals?

Cathy Russell: I want her to have the life she wants. That’s what I want for all these girls. And I want them to be able to get an education, I want them to have decent healthcare, I want them to be able to participate fully in their societies and in their economies. And if they’re already leaders at 12 and they have these opportunities, they’re going to be amazing leaders down the road.

From our perspective in the United States, it’s in our interest to support these girls because we know it’s in the strategic interest of our country, and when countries are stronger, women are stronger. But really so much of it is personal, because when I meet these girls and I see the potential that they have, I also know life can go really off track for them and that then is the end. The consequences are so devastating for them. If they’re 13, 14, or 15 years old and getting married, you know that they will end up having multiple children. And the notion that they know anything about reproductive health – it’s not happening at that age. So these girls end up with multiple children, the toll on their bodies is devastating, and they are not being educated. What do we expect their lives to be like? The alternative is really powerful, the alternative is they are valued as human beings and that they are able to participate in their societies and their economies in a way that is really meaningful and that will enhance their lives and the lives of their children. We know that when women are educated, when girls are educated, their children benefit incredibly well from that. Because mothers then are more likely to get their kids educated. The benefits really ripple out from the girl. Girls and women are a great investment.

UNMIL Photo/Christopher Herwig, November 25, 2008, Monrovia, Liberia – Launch of “16 days of Activism” campaign to strengthen women’s rights and stop gender based violence at City Hall in Monrovia, Liberia.

Global Daily: What is the risk if we don’t rally around half the world’s population?

Cathy Russell: Secretary Kerry always does this thing, the President does this too, have you heard this? When they talk they use sports metaphors—which, I’m not really a sports person, I don’t really get it but, basically their point is why would you ever play a game with leaving half your team on the bench? And I think that does capture the issue, right? No country will reach its potential if it leaves half of its population behind. I mean to me it’s so obvious, it’s so logical, it’s hard to really even imagine how you can dispute that notion. From our perspective, if girls are given an opportunity, if women are given an opportunity, that will benefit them, their families, their communities, and ultimately their countries will benefit. And that’s why girls and women’s issues is a strategic priority for the United States.

Global Daily: As we look towards 2030, how do we keep the momentum going with the Global Goals— continue to have people rally around them, and advocate for their own rights?

Cathy Russell: The more people get the sense that they have rights that they should be advocating for them with their government, the more empowered they are, the more willing they are to get into the arena.
It’s an issue that you really can’t put the cat back in the bag, that there is a broad recognition that people are entitled to certain rights and opportunities, that those are their rights, just by being human beings. That they should not be treated badly and that they should try to advocate for those issues with their government, it’s hard to turn that back. It’s just going to continue to grow.

Having said that, I think it is incumbent upon all of us to continue to push hard and continue to remind people of how important this is. We do it on the gender issues, that’s why my office and I do all the time, but there are so many other amazing civil society people around the world and in our country who are fighting hard for this, who understand how important this is. And I think it’s just going to continue to grow.