As we celebrate International Women's Day, women everywhere are still fighting for equality, education and empowerment in both the developed and developing world. A new documentary film, "Girl Rising," traces the lives of nine girls around the world, highlighting the injustices that women face from childhood.
Marie Arana and Maaza Mengiste, writers of "Girl Rising," joined HuffPost Live's Alicia Menendez in studio to discuss.
"Generation after generation the poor have been accustomed to taking their children to work with them," Arana said. "By the time they're 6 or 7 and they are able to carry a burden, they do. The immediate effect on a family's income is perceived as being more important than education," she added, saying that 70 percent of the 170 million children who are not in school worldwide are women.
Carly Fiorina, Global Ambassador for Opportunity International, says investing in women is the way forward for changing the lives of future generations.
"When we invest in a girl, when we invest in a woman, we know that she invests back in her family and in her community," Fiorina said. "Women improve the fate of the world."
Calling women the "most underutilized," and the "most subjugated resource in the world," Fiorina said the ongoing fight for women's equality is really a fight to change the world by utilizing an untapped resource.
"We are harming ourselves as a global community, men are harming themselves, by not investing in women."