International days are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems and to celebrate and reinforce the achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. One of such important international days is the International Day of the Girl Child.
Backdrop upon Which the Girl Child Awareness Was Created
Nearly 25 years ago, some 30,000 women and men from nearly 200 countries arrived in Beijing, China for the Fourth World Conference on Women, determined to recognize the rights of women and girls as human rights. The conference culminated in the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action: the most comprehensive policy agenda for the empowerment of women. In the years following, women pressed this agenda forward, leading global movements on issues ranging from sexual and reproductive health rights to equal pay. More girls today are attending and completing school, fewer are getting married or becoming mothers while still children and more are gaining the skills they need to excel in the future world of work.
The International Day of the Girl Child
The Day of The Girl Summit, held at United Nations headquarters every year aims to bring together organizations that serve girls to further the advancement of their human rights. All over the world, there are marches and special events such as concerts and sporting events to mark the occasion. In a global ‘takeover’ girls get the chance to take over key roles in business, politics and sport for the day and stories are shared on social media with the hashtags #girlstakeover #dayofthegirl and #girlhero!
A Track Record of the International Day of the Girl Child
Since 2012, 11 October has been marked as the International Day of the Girl. The day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges the girl child faces. While promoting girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights. In other words, it seeks to promote girl’s empowerment and fulfilment of their human rights while also highlighting the challenges that girls all over the world face. Since its launch in 2012 by the United Nations general assembly, some of the issues that the International Day of the Girl Child has focused on include issues such as education, equality, and child marriage, access to services regarding puberty and sexual health and addressing issues around gender-based violence.
Each year’s International Day of the Girl has its own theme. Past themes have included EmPower Girls: Before, During and After Crisis (2017) and Girls Progress = Goals Progress: What Counts for Girls (2016).
The 2019 Theme for the International Day of the Girl Child is ‘GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable’.
This year, under the theme, “GirlForce: Unscripted and unstoppable”, we will celebrate achievements by, with and for girls since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Some of the achievements have been highlighted with regards to the progress made with issues like child marriage, education inequality, gender-based violence, climate change, self-esteem, and girls’ rights to enter places of worship or public spaces during menstruation. Girls are proving they are unscripted and unstoppable.
Sources:
UN Women
UN
Featured Image Source: Sunday Guardian Live
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