1. Hello and welcome to today’s evening news. Today I will be discussing with you about the
campaign ’Because I am a Girl.’
-Plan UK have created many different organisations to help children around the world get a
better start in life. I am looking into a particular section of the campaign which is called the
‘Because I am a Girl’ campaign. This is a charitable campaign, aimed at girl’s around the
world who may not have a chance to get educated but Plan UK invest in giving over 75 million
girls around the world the chance to get new opportunities in life. Plan UK has been running
for over 70 years and has gained a respectable title of one of the best development agencies,
purely because of the success their campaign has had. They look into various other factors of
a young girl’s life from giving them to get the education to then help with family life to even
giving them the chance to not marry at such a young age.
-Broadly this campaign is aimed at anyone who is able to spend at least £5 a month to help
break all the poverty and gender discrimination. However, they particularly look for adults
who are able to understand the meaning under this campaign a lot better and are able to sign
up for petitions they have running. Women are a main audience for this campaign because
they will be able to really feel the deep meaning of this issue and how what these girls are
being put through; therefore women feel the need that they have a duty to have an input in
order to help put an end to all of this.
-Plan UK have created a website for the overall theme of the campaign, but they have made a
separate webpage for this particular campaign in which they have created various other links
which will let the audience gather as much information as possible to understand the full
meaning of this campaign and how they can get involved. They have clearly stated their main
aims of the campaign on their front page. The title they have used ‘Because I am a Girl’ is
able to catch the reader’s attention as it makes the audience curious about what this
campaign is about. They have got link to social networking site such as ‘Facebook and
Twitter’, the reader can therefore keep track with what is going on within the campaign as
many people are using these sites frequently. The majority of the images they have used are
of young girls in other countries with smiling faces which makes the reader get the
impression that this campaign is making a positive impact on these girls across the world.
Plan UK have design a logo which is used throughout their campaigning which is very child
friendly as if a child has designed it. They have also created an international website which
can therefore be accessed from anyone around the world and is made to appeal to everyone.
This website is specified on the ‘Because I am a girl campaign.’ However, they both have the
same concept and use similar idea.
Plan UK have also used a TV advert for their campaign. Throughout the whole of the video
they have included images of young girl’s, which make the audience feel very sympathetic
towards these young children as the images are very upsetting and make us want to help
them as we don’t suffer nearly as much as they do. They have used emotive music and a
voice over which is very subtle but drags your attention through her emotional tone of voice
and she clearly explains how these girls are suffering and how much they need our help. The
logo has once again been used twice in the video which is helpful is people see the logo they
can associate it with this campaign and they have given a website address for viewers to gain
access to more information.
Another method they have used to campaign this charity is through social networking site.
They have used many but one that I have particularly looked at is there Facebook page. They
have included various images and links to videos and other pages on their site. One of their
links is for a video with images of girls who have voluntarily chosen to help with the
promotion of this campaign and raise even more awareness. Plan UK have also included a
2. many videos to their Facebook page, one of them is has a title with a title of ‘Think of a birth
certificate like a piece of paper?’ The use of the rhetorical question within the question has
been very cleverly used as it drags the reader attention to wonder what the video is all about.
Their various other videos relate to success and improvement that is taking place in the
countries. They have also inserted a petition which is very helpful as it can be completely
within minutes. The page clearly states what their aims for this campaign are and how much
they could make a different to a young girl’s future.
-Plan UK have had many successes throughout the years. They started sponsoring 75 years
ago and today over 100,000 people in the UK sponsor a child through us.Thousands of
‘Because I am a Girl’ supporters have already taken action to support girls’ education.
In 2009 6,500 ‘Because I am a Girl’ supporters asked former UK Prime Minister,
Gordon Brown, to take action to ensure girls in countries affected by conflict have
access to education.
Over 600 pupils at South Hampstead High School were inspired to take action when
they learned that a staggering 75 million girls around the world were out of school. To
raise the money, the girls organised a sponsored 10K walk on 6 April through London
to Downing Street to deliver their ‘Because I am a Girl’ petition. By challenging
each girl to raise just £96, the amount it costs to educate a girl for one year
in the developing world, they have raised over £38,000, which is incredible!
Since Plan UK began working on stopping child marriage in Gazipur, five villages have
declared themselves child marriage free.
The legal age of marriage in Bangladesh is 18 years for girls. Despite this, research
has found that the actual average age is 16.4 years for girls. This project will help
raise the average to 18 in these districts over a four year period.
They have been working with Vietnamese for over 20 years in which they are working
with small communities to help them lift themselves out of poverty.
Plan used the Ghanaian’s love of football to get them back to school. The project has
achieved a significant 15% increase in the number of girls going back to school and
the project has also seen other highlights including:
100 girls participating in Science Technology and Mathematics Education sessions
Through education, 150 girls from 25 communities have acquired various skills that
enable them to earn a living and help their families.
The girls are now also financially aware and manage their own bank accounts.
Plan’s ‘Because I am a Girl’ campaign created a boarding home in Kailahun, in the Eastern
Province of Sierra Leone. All the girls who took their Basic Education exam this year passed,
giving them the fresh start and opportunity they deserve.
That’s all for today, please tune in tomorrow for more updates around the world
http://www.facebook.com/becauseiamagirl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-V0PDwaSSs
http://www.plan-uk.org/what-we-do/campaigns/because-i-am-a-girl/
http://plan-international.org/girls/