Intl Day of Girl - New leader of Girls Action Foundation Jan ...

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact:
Saman Ahsan: 514.948.1112, saman@girlsactionfoundation.ca
The facts about Girls in Canada
• “With the onset of puberty, girls are typically three times as likely as boys to suffer from
depression due to low self-esteem, negative body image, feelings of helplessness and
hopelessness, and stress” (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2006)
• 46% of high school girls report being the target of unwanted sexual comments or gestures
(CAMH Centre for Prevention Science, 2008)
• 29% of Aboriginal girls in report that they seriously consider suicide (McCreary Centre
Society, 2005)
• Today’s girls are bombarded by hypersexualized media images (American Psychological
Association, 2007)
• Immigrant young women have higher unemployment rates than their Canadian-born
counterparts (Statistics Canada, 2005)
• Young women under 25 experience the highest rates of partner violence of all age groups
(Statistics Canada, 2006)
For more facts and references, read Girls Action’s report Girls in Canada Today
http://www.girlsactionfoundation.ca/en/light-a-spark/girls-in-canada
About Girls Action Foundation
Girls Action Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting girls and young
women to overcome barriers to reach their true potential. Founded in 1995, Girls Action delivers
girls’ empowerment programs, training for educators, and bursaries for young women changemakers.
Girls Action operates on a national scale with a local impact reaching 60,000 girls and
young women annually. The 250 member-organizations of the Girls Action Network are found in
all provinces and territories. 90% of girls and women participating in Girls Action programs come
from underprivileged and marginalized communities.
Saman Ahsan has worked with and on behalf of girls and young women
for her entire career. As the National Coordinator of the Girl Child Project
at the Family Planning Association of Pakistan, one of the oldest and
largest NGOs in the country, Saman was responsible for community
mobilization at the grassroots level to empower adolescent girls
belonging to marginalized communities. Through Ms Ahsan’s leadership,
the Girl Child Project grew exponentially from 130 locations to an
additional 600 locations reaching 30,000 additional girls over a five year
period. Ms Ahsan has also held leadership roles at the World Economic
Forum, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. As a
graduate of the Sauvé Scholars Program in Montréal (2003-2004) and
of McGill University’s Anthropology department (1995-1998), she is well
acquainted with life in Canada.