Educating girls and raising the status of women are the most powerful ways to address poverty, child and maternal mortality, domestic violence, teen pregnancy, and the spread of AIDS and other diseases all over the world.

Spend a couple of minutes on this site and we'll give you a crash course in the issues, the realities and what can be done.

We're not asking you to do anything but read and watch, because we think awareness is the first step toward change. If you want to do more, you can. And we provide ideas on where to start.