author of award-winning novel Witness the Night has written that she came across cases where newborn female babies were discarded – thrown out to be gnawed by rats, while others were drowned or given fatal drugs (Sydney Morning Herald, June 19, 2011). The Minority Rights Group International has claimed that Dalit (untouchable) women face rape and custodial torture by virtue of their caste.
 According to The Washington Post, J. Alexander Their director of USAID’s Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs, when asked as to why USAID changed its $140 million land reform program in Afghanistan, which was supposed to promote women’s rights through helping them attain land rights occurred because “The women’s issue is one where we need hardheaded realism. There are things we can do, and do well. But if we become unrealistic and overfocused . . . we get ourselves in trouble.” The Post added that a senior official noted that “Gender issues are going to have to take a back seat to other priorities,”. Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “In Afghanistan, U.S. Shifts Strategy on Women’s Rights as it Eyes Wider Priorities,” The Washington Post, March 6, 2011. [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/05/AR2011030504233.html]
 The African Development Bank in its June 2011 meeting recognized that women entrepreneurs demanded $19 billion dollars in loans, leading Caleb Fundanga, the governor of Zambia’s Central Bank saw the failure to support women entrepreneurs as a missed opportunity for his country and others. (The Guardian, June 14, 2011)
 For a critique of the “girl effect” see for example, Anna Carella’s blog (January 4, 2011) in AID WATCH http://aidwatchers.com/2011/01/so-now-we-have-to-save-ourselves-and-the-world-too-a-critique-of-%E2%80%9Cthe-girl-effect%E2%80%9D/