Madeleine was recruited into a Congolese militia group when she was only 11 years old. She was trained in military skills, fought at front lines and served as a bodyguard for her commander. Now 15, she participated in a panel discussion called "Girls Speak Out" that included an HIV-positive rape victim and a former child labourer, held on 2 March 2007 at UN Headquarters.

Madeleine escaped the armed group after witnessing the brutal rape of a friend and the sexual slavery of other girls. "Some of us are suffering from diseases like HIV/AIDS, and yet we didn't have access to treatment. What have we done wrong to suffer like this? What will be our future?" she asked, bursting into tears. The audience in the fully packed conference hall gave her a standing ovation.

Katie Couric UN photo/ Evan Schneider

"Girls Speak Out" was moderated by CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, a mother of two girls, who said there was much to learn from these compelling stories told by girls from different parts of the world. "To change the world, you have to learn the world", she pointed out.

"Apart from the discrimination and stigma that any person with HIV/AIDS suffers, girls like me who are HIV-positive have lost our childhood, our dreams and our sense of humanity", said 19-year-old Memory Phiri from Zambia, who lost both her parents and was raped at age of ten and contracted HIV. She was accepted a few years later at City of Hope Shelter Home in Lusaka, an orphanage run by the Salesian Sisters.

Memory began teaching children to write "hero books", books written by children to help themselves build confidence in the face of a challenge. "Break the news and speak out", she wrote in her own hero book. She has also spoken at numerous workshops, where she has helped young girls in orphanages and vulnerable situations. Sending her message to the international community, Memory called on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), a functional body of the UN Economic and Social Council, as well as all Governments, to protect women and girls living with HIV/AIDS. "You may have wonderful policies, but without the well-being of women and girls, even your future is in danger."

"If all of us unite together and commit to fight against violence against children, we can definitely make this world a better place", said 16-year-old Sunita Tamang of Biratnagar, Nepal, whose family, like many in her country, cannot afford to send her to school. She had to work at an early age in a matchstick factory, assembling matchboxes to support her family after her father remarried. In Nepal, women and girls' education is far behind, she said, adding that some Nepalese believe girls should not get an education because they become the husband's property after marriage. However, with the help of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Biratnagar municipality and the NGO Forum for Human Rights in Nepal, Sunita currently attends school and works part-time. "If we are provided with opportunity, we can do anything", she said.

Alisha Schchathep, age 17, said women and girls are treated as commodities in her country. "There are 800,000 girls below age 18 working as prostitutes in Thailand", she pointed out, citing the high poverty rate (15.9 per cent) as a major reason for parents to sell their daughters into prostitution. Alisha informed that 70 per cent of girls rescued from brothels in Thailand are infected with HIV/AIDS. She called on Governments to have men and boys involved to empower girls and women in their social and economic status in the society. "To improve [the situation in sex trafficking] is not enough; elimination should be the goal and I truly believe that is it within our reach", she said.

Some 55 million girls have no access to formal education, and an estimated 40 per cent of child soldiers are girls, according to CSW. "Girls Speak Out" was part of the debate on how to reinforce gender equality and eliminate discrimination and gender-based violence globally, which is the priority theme of the Commission's 51st session. The occasion has attracted over 2,000 women and girls from all over the world to UN Headquarters in New York to join in the discussions and seek solutions to these issues.

To help children in need, visit: www.unicef.org