The global community has good cause to celebrate the progress achieved over the last quarter century in the name of girls’ rights. But we cannot lose sight of the challenges girls still face every day. Twenty-five years ago, the Beijing Platform for Action recognized that childhood is a separate space from adulthood. Girls’ needs, preferences and vulnerabilities are related to women’s, but are also distinct. The Platform called upon governments, donors and civil society to invest in ending discrimination against girls and eliminating barriers in health, nutrition, education and related domains that prevent them from realizing their full potential. It also called upon governments to ensure that all data is disaggregated and analysed by sex and age so governments can formulate policies and programmes, and make decisions that better protect and support girls in achieving brighter futures.