In 2006, we were given a bold challenge: Peter’s father
Warren Buffett
pledged $1 billion to our family foundation. His only advice? Try to
focus on something that could make a significant difference in the
world. Expect to make some mistakes along the way; nothing important
will be accomplished if we only make safe decisions.
It didn’t take us long to realize what we wanted to change.
Worldwide we saw deeply ingrained systems of exploitation and
domination. We’re surrounded by unprecedented technology and
knowledge—yet our global society seems to be relentlessly perpetuating
inequality. We are living out of balance.
So
where and how to start? We were reminded of Warren’s investment
philosophy: invest in assets that are undervalued in the marketplace but
show huge potential. After many conversations and interactions with
people in many countries around the world, we saw a pattern. It turns
out that the asset wasn’t what but who: adolescent girls.
In
2012, 65 million girls worldwide were not in school. Fourteen million
were likely to give birth—an event they were two-five times more likely
to die from as women in their 20s. Half of the world’s sexual assault
victims are girls under the age of 15. Twice-discriminated, by age and
gender, girls worldwide are denied their basic human rights.
We
knew we had to invest in girls first and foremost because girls, as part
of the human family, deserve better. Girls also hold great potential
for their communities, as leaders, artists, mothers, doctors,
influencers and engaged members of society. Yet today’s girls are born
into an unwelcoming world—and adolescence is often the moment when a
girl’s potential is irrevocably lost or stolen. The world can no longer
ignore our collective responsibility to acknowledge and support the
power and contributions of girls. Their lives are too intimately linked
to the next generation, who will either be born into lack and poverty,
or into positive engagement and meaningful contribution.
To
us, these are stories of individual tragedies—and collective disasters.
India’s adolescent mothers will lose $400 billion as potential income
over their lifetimes; this is eight times the combined profits that
India’s top 100 companies generate (of over $50 billion) annually. When
we see the power of girls go undervalued and overlooked, progress will
always be stilted.
There’s
one more thing about adolescent girls. It’s something that economists
won’t count and researchers can’t measure, but it is palpable to anyone
who has spent time with girls. There is an energy and life force in each
and every girl: buzzing, hopeful, imaginative, will-full, brilliant,
ready to change the world for themselves and all around them. If society
can protect and channel that power, society can and will change—for the
better.
The
story of Anjali* can help describe what we mean. We met Anjali in Bihar,
a vibrant 16-year-old girl in a community where poverty, caste and
class discrimination leave girls with just one asset to be exploited:
their bodies. Economic desperation drives families to sell their
daughters, marry them off, or prostitute them. The average age into
prostitution in India is 11—but fortunately Anjali does not represent
that statistic.
Instead,
when we met her, Anjali was completing the 9th class at a
government-funded girls’ hostel. She is a karate expert. She confidently
walks through her village. She explains to her neighbours why their
daughters should be kept in school, and out of marriage and brothels.
She is a fast talker and wants to be a lawyer. We could see why.
How did Anjali get this way?
She
was safe. Her mother had been sold into prostitution at a young age, and
had been forced to marry off Anjali’s sisters when they were under
10-years-old. She was determined that Anjali’s future would be
different.
She
was seen. A local organization that seeks to end the trafficking of
girls and women knew she was at risk for exploitation and brought her to
the hostel.
She
was celebrated. The organization and hostel believed in her. She
received an education. She has friends. She has the privilege to dream. A
girl who stays in school longer, gives birth later, and has economic
assets beyond her body is the girl who will realize her own potential,
break cycles of poverty, and shift power imbalances that fuel
exploitation.
How
can all the world’s nearly 600 million adolescent girls be safe, seen
and celebrated? It will take changing norms that sanction brutality
against girls and women—a movement already underway in India and around
the world. It means tracking girls’ health, education and economic
realities so we truly understand the state of India’s 133 million future
women. It means investing in girls; the $2.5 billion expected from the
new companies law would be a good start. And it means listening to
girls, learning from them and their vision for their present and future
lives.
As
for our work in philanthropy: we go back to the original meaning of the
word—the love of humanity. Fundamentally, we believe our global humanity
needs a new code to live by. Ensuring that girls such as Anjali are
safe, seen and celebrated will show us the way. And then, as our friend
Gloria Steinem says: We’ll see a world where we are all linked, not ranked.
*Name changed
Jennifer
and Peter Buffett are co-chairs of the NoVo Foundation. In 2008, they
received the Clinton Global Citizen Award and they were named in
Barron’s list of top 25 most effective philanthropists in 2009 and 2010.
ONIKA JAISWAL
PGDM 1ST YEAR
2013-15
