Imagine for a moment that you're a girl in the developing world looking forward to your first day of school.

It is likely that you're the first in your family ever to attend school, and the education you are about to receive is a crucial lifeline. Without it, you are destined to repeat a cycle of poverty that has been endured by generations before you. With it, you can expect an opportunity to break the bonds of poverty. Your next step is one that may allow you to realise your full potential.

Afghan refugee girls play in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. Credit:AP

Now imagine that your school, like so many across the developing world, is supported by Australian aid. Like some 200,000 other girls, you may find that the education so crucial to your future has vanished. The door of opportunity so recently opened has been slammed shut by an Australian government determined to paper over a short-term budget hole with the highest of prices: your future.

This situation is not hypothetical. It became a reality when the government announced a staggering 20 per cent cut in Australian aid. Plan International's analysis of those cuts have found that girls will be the biggest losers.