6am, 3 February, 2026: For immediate release
Australia urged to boost funding for girls as global aid cuts and growing anti-rights backlash push Asia-Pacific adolescent girls into crisis
A new report released today by Plan International Australia is urging the Federal Government to increase targeted aid investment for adolescent girls, warning that global aid cuts and a growing anti-rights backlash are placing gender equality in the Asia-Pacific great risk.
The Invest Early, Change Everything report finds that more than 240 million adolescent girls now live in the Asia-Pacific - one of the largest adolescent cohorts globally - yet girls aged 10-19 in this region remain essentially invisible in development policy and funding, despite adolescence being the period when inequality takes root.
One year on from the unprecedented slashing of the USAID program and other global aid programs, the consequences for girls have become painfully clear. Cuts to sexual and reproductive health services, education and gender equality programs are leaving adolescent girls more exposed to child and forced marriage, gender-based violence, unintended pregnancy and school dropout, particularly across low-income countries in Australia’s closest neighbours in the Asia Pacific.
Despite the scale of need, the report shows that less than 1% of global aid is targeted specifically to adolescent girls, even though evidence consistently shows that investment during adolescence delivers the highest returns - improving education, health, economic participation and long-term stability for entire communities.
“Investment delayed until adulthood cannot recover what is lost during adolescence,” said Plan International Australia chief executive Susanne Legena. “If Australia wants its aid to work harder, investing in girls early is one of the smartest and most cost-effective choices it can make.”
The report found that across parts of the Pacific and Southeast Asia, fewer than half of girls complete lower-secondary school, while adolescent fertility rates in some Pacific countries reach 50–65 births per 1,000 girls, compared with 12 per 1,000 in Australia.
Shockingly, it also found that complications from pregnancy and childbirth account for 1 in every 23 deaths among girls aged 15–19 globally, while one in 5 girls worldwide are still married before age 18, with progress uneven across regions and limited gains in parts of East Asia and the Pacific.
Violence also peaks during adolescence, with more than 20% of ever-married adolescent girls in countries including Timor-Leste, Pakistan and Myanmar reporting intimate partner violence.
“Adolescent girls are not a niche group,” said Ms Legena. “They are a large, high-potential population facing systematic under-investment at precisely the moment when intervention matters most.”
With Australia preparing this year’s Federal Budget, and set to host the global Women Deliver conference in Melbourne this April (the first time the event has been held in the Oceanic Pacific) Plan International Australia says the Government has a critical opportunity to demonstrate regional leadership.
The organisation is calling on the Australian Government to commit $50 million over four years for initiatives that explicitly benefit adolescent girls across education, health, violence prevention, climate response and economic participation, and take measures to increase the participation and visibility of adolescent girls across its aid program. The report finds that multi-sector programs for adolescent girls can generate benefit–cost ratios of up to 4:1 in Asia, avert millions of unintended pregnancies and child marriages, and deliver long-term economic and social gains for entire communities.
“Around the region, I have seen what becomes possible when girls are supported at this pivotal moment. When they stay in school after a cyclone, when they access age-appropriate health care and sex ed without stigma; advocate to stay in school, learn skills for the future, and participate in shaping the big decisions that affect their lives,” said Ms Legena.
“Australia’s international gender equality strategy has the potential to be world leading, but risks being ineffectual if it does not recognise the risks and opportunities for girls in the Asia Pacific. .
“Fifty million dollars is not a radical funding proposition But for adolescent girls across the Asia-Pacific, it would be transformative: keeping girls in school, preventing early marriage and violence, and strengthening the stability of our region. This isn’t a question of affordability. It’s a question of priorities,” she added.
“These are not acts of charity. They are investments in leadership, resilience and shared prosperity in our region.”
For interviews or more information please contact: Claire Knox, Media and PR Manager, Plan International Australia: +61 452 326 549 / claire.knox@plan.org.au
About Plan International Australia
Plan International Australia works alongside communities globally, delivering emergency response and long-term development programs to see girls values and empowered, so that future generations inherit a brighter, more equitable future. We believe a better world is possible. An equal world; a world where all children can live happy and healthy lives, and where girls can take their rightful place as equals. www.plan.org.au
