5 Human Rights We Can't Believe Are Still Abused--And How Girl Scouts Are Tackling Them Head On

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world.”- Eleanor Roosevelt

Today marks the 70th anniversary of Human Rights Day, a milestone day in this country where we declared that everyone—regardless of race, religion, sex, political affiliation, or any other status—is entitled to fair and equal universal rights. While this declaration marked a monumental change in how we view and appreciate diversity in the United States and around the world, this promise has yet to be fulfilled in its entirety.

The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are inalienable, yes, but that just begins the endless list of our human rights, and rights that many of us unfortunately take for granted. Millions around the world live without the right to an education, the right to safety, the right to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, and the right to religion. Thankfully, these Girl Scouts are stepping in to create real change on scales large and small.

The Right to an Education 

Observations that Liza Villanueva made as a seven-year-old visiting the Philippines stayed with her throughout her Girl Scout career. Those memories inspired her Gold Award project, the iDREAM (imagination, discovery, research, education, art, and music) Express. Loaded with school supplies, instruments, books, tablets, and a team of volunteer teachers, the iDREAM Express van holds classes twice a week for homeless children in the Philippines and also provides free hygiene supplies, medical care, and hot meals.

The Right to Safety 

While spending a month in India, Pooja Nagpal took her passions for practicing martial arts and preventing violence against women from advocacy to action. After developing a two-part curriculum that combines physical self-defense methods with discussions and activities, she created For a Change, Defend, a nonprofit that teaches teenage girls how to stand up for themselves and work to eliminate gender violence. From rural villages in India to women’s shelters in Los Angeles, Pooja’s organization is saving lives and empowering girls and women across the globe.

The Right to Sanitation & Hygiene

Josephine’s Girl Scout Gold Award project was inspired by a trip to Costa Rica, where she contracted a waterborne illness. Thankfully after a few months of battling the parasitic illness, she recovered—though the experience made her think of all the people who aren’t as lucky. So Josephine took action, joining with Hands Up for Haiti, a medical humanitarian organization that helps people in northern Haiti, to put together and distribute hygiene/maternity care packages. The donation drive she held was a hit! In two days she collected all of the items she needed, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soap for the hygiene packages, and baby wash, washcloths, onesies, and blankets and diapers that she and her team sewed using cloth from a local Goodwill for the maternity packages. (They made over 120 cloth diapers and 30 blankets for newborns!) Josephine is encouraging other girls to take up similar projects in hopes of keeping the effort going.

The Right to Religion 

Inclusivity matters, and using your voice to speak up and raise awareness about important issues is what Gold Award Girl Scouts do to create change in their communities. Aliza’s Girl Scout Gold Award project, A Muslim American, reflects this—she sought to educate community members about the Islamic faith, debunking misconceptions and the stigma that surrounds it. She created and distributed Ramadan and Eid baskets filled with fruits, candies, and informational pamphlets about each occasion to churches and police stations in her community; she also delivered presentations on Islam and how the community could band together and be more inclusive with regard to ethnicity and religion. Additionally, she participated in an event called Open Door Day, where she distributed information to over 500 attendees about two organizations she’s working with: one that helps orphan children in Gaza and another that circulates accurate information about Islam. And to make this information available to teens, she created a youth group blog about Islam, with posts written by girls in the community. 

The Right to Clean Water 

Brownie Troop #71729 from Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan heard about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, they knew they had to jump in and take action. Their venture began when they discovered the mom of one troop member was deeply involved in solving the problems caused by the water crisis. That mom, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician at Hurley Medical Center in Flint and leader of the pediatric public health initiative to battle the crisis, spoke at a troop meeting. 

After some discussion and brainstorming, the girls decided they would write letters to Michigan governor Rick Snyder advocating for the people of Flint, especially the children. In their letters, some girls expressed their anger and disappointment about the water crisis and its effect on their peers, while others urged the governor to take action and find solutions.

Dianne Belk and Lawrence Calder Activate Entire Girl Scout Movement with a Historical Planned Giving Challenge

When my husband and I wanted to leave a gift in our wills to Girl Scouts, we learned that most Girl Scout councils were not actively promoting planned giving as a way for annual donors, volunteers, and alums to show their support of Girl Scouts. We decided to let some of our Girl Scouts friends know that they, too, could leave a gift to Girl Scouts in their will, and I offered to spread the word about this concept.

What a change in seven years! As GSUSA and all councils embraced the concept of planned giving, the number of planned giving donors has grown by more than 1000 percent! We have all worked diligently to tell our Girl Scout sisters and brothers that leaving a gift in a will or estate plan is simple and doable, with no minimum requirement. It can be as easy as making Girl Scouts the partial beneficiary of a retirement fund or a life insurance policy.

When Girl Scouts established the Juliette Gordon Low Society to thank and honor those who remember Girl Scouts in their wills and estate plans and named me its founding chair, I felt so very honored.

From this volunteer position, I have had the privilege to speak with thousands of Girl Scout supporters, including volunteers, troop leaders, donors, and alums from nearly every Girl Scout council, about how simple it is to make a planned gift. I have been humbled by the hundreds of people who have responded to my asking them to make a planned gift and who have shared their joy in being able to do so. I have pinned hundreds with the Juliette Gordon Low Society lapel pin.

I’m often asked why I want to do this. My response is simple:

As a farm girl from very limited means and even fewer options, Girl Scouts was my ticket to exploring the world’s opportunities. One memorable exploration was a trip down the Mississippi River on an old steamboat with 500 Girl Scouts from the Mississippi/Arkansas/Tennessee area. So many “firsts”—all of them made even more special by the camaraderie with Girl Scout sisters.I was forever changed.

Such memories and experiences remind me that I owe so much of my success in life to my 12 years in Girl Scouts and the impact that it had on my goals, values, and character. I am so grateful. Such gratitude has led my husband and me to commit our resources to helping knock down barriers that young women face in achieving equality in today’s world. We are so proud to support Girl Scouts, because we recognize that they are the best organization in the world to help young women become the leaders of tomorrow. It’s the Girl Scout way for us to want to give back!

The groundbreaking Dianne Belk and Lawrence Calder Girl Scout Movement-wide Planned Giving Challenge inspired 843 new planned gifts to benefit Girl Scout councils across the country, with a total impact exceeding $30 million.

Eight Ways Girl Scouts Give Back this Holiday Season

'Tis the season for giving back, but we all know Girl Scouts give back all year-round! There are so many ways her G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ energy and caring make a difference in her community—whether she and her Girl Scout friends are working on a Take Action Project after a Girl Scout Journey, working towards one of their Girl Scout Highest Awards, or giving back simply because they want to!

If you’re looking for how your Girl Scout troop can give back during the holidays, here are just a few of the ways Girl Scouts give back across the country:

1. Organize a food drive 

These Girl Scouts collected over 100 cans and goods for
Chavelyta’s Pink Hood Foundation for patients and families
who have been affected by cancer.

Troop 40772 donated food, made sandwiches and packaged food and served it to those in need.
They also sponsored a family and purchased gifts and necessities to make this season bright!

Junior Troop 2966 collected Thanksgiving dinners for the Salvation Army.
They decorated the boxes and included cards for the families that would receive them. 

GSGLA Ambassador Troop 3913 donated over 20 bags of groceries to the Women’s Shelter of Long Beach.

2. Send care packages to Armed Forces or combat veterans 

Troop 40116 from Iowa donated t-shirts, socks, puzzle books, cologne to Combat Veterans.
They will donate to all the Veterans that live in our retirement homes.

3. Organize a toy drive 

Troop 42905 from Kansas set out Girl Scout trees to collect 500 gifts for our local foster kids!
They also collected donations for a local animal shelter.

4. Spread cheer by caroling at your local nursing home 

5. Collect or make warm clothing to donate

6. Volunteer at a local food pantry or soup kitchen

Troop 30766 helped out at the local food bank! They
also did Halloween caroling at a nursing home this year.
Last year they organized a toy drive for a an organization that helps the homeless.
Community service is a big focus for this troop!

7. Organize a drive for children in foster care or children in your local hospital 

8. Find a local issue directly affecting your community 

Troop 3029 from Florida had a wonderful giving back to Kids Fest,
even though many of the girls in the troop did not have lights or water, and
some girls are without homes. 

Junior Troop 1990 put together Boxes of Love to send to children in Port au Prince, Haiti.
They will also be taking holiday goodies and singing carols at a nursing home in a couple weeks,
and laying wreaths at the National Cemetery in Titusville, FL.

Some Girl Scout troops give back in many different ways not just during the holiday season, but all throughout the year. 

For more inspiration and ideas, check out how other Girl Scout troops are giving back this holiday season. Don't forget to share your stories on social media using #GirlScoutsGiveBack or email to [email protected].

Ten Girl Scout Investiture Ceremony Ideas

Girl Scouts across the country use different ceremonies to mark special events throughout the year—bridging to another level; earning a National Leadership Journey award; earning a Girl Scout Bronze Award, Silver Award, or Gold Award; and welcoming a new member to their troop!

Investiture ceremonies are a great way to greet new girls. These ceremonies can be as simple as you want—and they’re completely customizable to fit your troop’s style. So how do different troops tailor their investiture ceremonies? We asked on Facebook, and you answered! Check out our top ten ideas for a great investiture ceremony.

Five Ways to Get Girls Thinking Like a Programmer

Did you know? According to the Girl Scout Research Institute’s Generation STEM report, 74 percent of teen girls are interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), but their interest fades as they move through middle and high school. A large part of this decreased interest is because girls aren’t exposed to STEM in ways that speak to them and inspire their career ambitions.

Girl Scouts of the USA and Raytheon are setting out to change that permanently by giving girls in grades 6–12 more opportunities to get inspired and stay inspired—especially when it comes to cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, robotics, and data science!

But you don’t have to become a programmer or a robotics engineer to learn the value of thinking like one. Essentially, thinking like a programmer is about finding more effective and efficient ways to solve problems. It’s also about not being afraid to fail.

Here are a few key ways to think like a STEM professional that you can teach every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ in your life:

1. Don’t be afraid to test things out and learn from your mistakes.

New and unsolved problems are often pretty intimidating. If we want to have any chance of making something creative, useful, and clever, then we need to be willing to work on problems and accept the fact that mistakes naturally happen along the way. Mistakes are a part of programmers’ lives too, because they’re responsible for coming up with creative ways to solve problems by testing different frameworks (paths that may lead to possible solutions). Programmers are more curious about bugs (errors) than irritated by them, and that kind of attitude is critically important!

2. Learn to break big problems into manageable chunks. 

The ability to break down large, complex problems is incredibly valuable. Encourage girls to keep trying if their first few approaches to solving a problem don’t work. Ask them how they might separate the problem into smaller subproblems and address those first. And be sure to remind them that this skill transfers over into their daily lives as well. For example, when working on a school project, she may want to break it down to smaller subtasks, such as key dates and deliverables, team members’ roles, and a list of resources to use. She will then need to work on tackling each of the smaller tasks to eventually complete her larger project.

3. Ask for help!

Reinforce to girls that asking for help is perfectly acceptable and often leads to solving problems more efficiently. In fact, programmers frequently brainstorm solutions and ideas together. By engaging girls in collaboration to find answers, you'll encourage cooperative learning and help them lead the conversation. It’s a win-win!

4. Learn the basics.

“Coding is incredibly important for our next generation,” says Rebecca Rhoads, president of Raytheon’s Global Businesses Services and a Girl Scout alum. “It’s something they’ll need exposure to no matter the career.” Understanding more about computer science and coding will give your girls a competitive edge early on, regardless of which field they choose. It’s perfectly OK to begin with the basics: first, talk about a computer’s input, storage, processing, and output. Feel free to use a sample video resource to get started. You don’t have to be a computer science expert to introduce girls to some of the basic concepts and facilitate the conversation. And when you’re ready, learn more about our Think Like a Programmer Journeys!

5. Inspire girls with strong female role models.

Team up with a local tech or STEM company, and invite one of its female members to your next troop meeting. Encourage the speaker to share different aspects of her job and how she makes a difference in the world through her work. You can also have girls research notable women in STEM and discuss the leaders who inspire girls most.

Finally, don’t forget to give yourself props after you’ve walked girls through the different ways they can think like a STEM professional—after all, by breaking it all down for them in simpler pieces, you’ve been emulating a programmer and practicing what you preach!