leadership positions in both politics and the private sector. Their safe, meaningful, and appropriate participation is key to creating democratic societies with informed and engaged citizens. (7) Adolescence is a critical period in a girl’s life, when significant physical, emotional, and social changes shape her future. Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, child, early, and forced marriage, and other forms of gender-based violence, including sexual exploitation, harassment, and assault, which are detrimental to their futures. (8) Approximately 132,000,000 adolescent girls between the ages of 6–17 are out of school. United Nations data revealed an increase of over six percent in the number of adolescent girls not in primary school, in just one year, from 32,000,000 in 2015 to 34,000,000 in 2016. (9) By 2030, over 150,000,000 more adolescent girls will marry as children. Despite global progress, 12,000,000 adolescent girls under 18 will marry annually. The number one cause of death for adolescent girls 15–19 years old is childbirth, and 90 percent of births to adolescent girls 15–19 occur within a marriage. (10) Every 10 minutes, somewhere in the world, an adolescent girl dies as a result of violence. A girl’s risk of dying as a result of violence increases from early to late adolescence. Violence is the second leading cause of death among adolescent girls globally. (11) Empowering adolescent girls and young women in childhood and as they transition to become adults, investing in their leadership potential, and ensuring there are established pathways to positions of political leadership and civic engagement contribute to ensuring a world where women can thrive as political leaders and decisionmakers, in economic spaces and across society as a whole. 3. Statement of policy It shall be the international development policy of the United States to— (1) promote and ensure that all adolescents from the most marginalized populations, including both girls and boys, are able to fully participate in