Just when we thought the Trudeaus couldn’t get any more feminist ...
On Tuesday, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau opened the Toronto Stock Exchange in honor of the International Day of the Girl, a day dedicated to driving attention to the challenges that girls face worldwide.
The wife of the Canadian Prime Minister stood alongside three organizations ― G(irls)20, FitSpirit/Fillactive and Plan International Canada ― and called for governments and companies to increase investments in girls to keep them in school and get them into leadership roles.
She also said men need to get on board to bring about real change.
“Make sure that men are an active part of the solution,” Grégoire Trudeau said in a release from G(irls)20, which works to increase women’s participation in the workforce.
“It is only with the full participation of all actors that we will be able to give more women and girls the opportunity to reach their potential,” Grégoire Trudeau also said.
Farah Mohamed, the CEO of G(irls)20, noted at the event that people need to realize how “investing time and resources into girls pays off,” reports the Canadian Press.
The Organization for Economic Co‑operation and Development estimates that reducing the gender gap in labor force participation by 50 percent across its 35 member nations would boost gross domestic product 6 percent by 2030.
Just one extra year of primary school increases girls’ future wages by 10 to 20 percent, according to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Grégoire Trudeau said, per the G(irls)20 release. “Investing in girls is a key step in the fight for gender equality. It also gives us the opportunity to recognize that gender equality is not an issue faced by just half of the population, but by all.”