Project Syndicate: Unleashing Africa’s Girl Power
Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique and co-chair of the High-Level Task Force for the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)

“…The first step to improving conditions for women must be to strengthen their sexual and reproductive health and rights — an issue concerning which Africa has some of the world’s worst indicators. … The compounding benefits of ending legal, economic, and gender discrimination are vast. Healthier, wealthier, and better-educated women tend to produce healthier, wealthier, and better-educated families, because women typically invest more of their earnings than men do in their children’s wellbeing. With the continent’s population forecast to double by 2050, there is hardly a better time to invest in women and girls. It is as much an economic as an ethical argument” (10/17).