International Day of the Girl Child is an

international observance Lists of holidays by various categorizations. Religious holidays Abrahamic holidays (Middle Eastern) Jewish holidays *Chag HaMatzot (Feast of Unleavened bread, Unleavened Bread – 7 days of consumption of matzo with wine and avoidance ...

day declared by the United Nations; it is also called the Day of Girls and the International Day of the Girl.

October 11 Events Pre-1600 * 1138 – A massive earthquake strikes Aleppo; it is one of the most destructive earthquakes ever. *1142 – A peace treaty ends the Jin–Song wars. * 1311 – The peerage and clergy restrict the authority of Eng ...

, 2012, was the first Day of the Girl Child. The observation supports more opportunity for girls and increases awareness of

gender inequality Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empi ...

faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender. This inequality includes areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination,

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often consi ...

and forced

child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a ma ...

. The celebration of the day also "reflects the successful

emergence In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when an entity is observed to have properties its parts do not have on their own, properties or behaviors that emerge only when the parts interact in a wider whole. Emergence ...

of girls and young women as a distinct cohort in development policy, programming, campaigning and research."

Background

International Day of the Girl increases awareness of issues faced by girls around the world. Many global development plans do not include or consider girls, and their issues become "invisible". More than 62 million girls around the world had no access to education, as of ''c.'' 2014, according to USAID. Worldwide and collectively, girls ages 5 to 14 spend more than 160 million hours more on

household chores Housekeeping is the management and routine support activities of running an organised physical institution occupied or used by people, like a house, ship, hospital or factory, such as tidying, cleaning, cooking, routine maintenance, shopping, ...

than boys of the same age do. Globally, one in four girls are married before age 18. On October 11, 2016,

Emma Watson Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress and activist. Known for her roles in both blockbusters and independent films, as well as for her women's rights work, she has received a selection of accolades, includi ...

, a United Nations Women's Goodwill Ambassador, urged countries and families worldwide to end forced child marriage. Many girls around the world are vulnerable to acts of

sexual violence Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim.World Health Organization., World re ...

and the

perpetrators In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense (perp in dated U ...

often go unpunished. The Day of Girls helps raise awareness not only of the issues that girls face, but also of what is likely to happen when those problems are solved. For example, educating girls helps reduce the rate of child marriage, disease and helps strengthen the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

by helping girls have access to higher paying jobs.

History

International Day of the Girl Child for 2014

The International Day of Girls initiative began as a project of

Plan International Plan International is a development and humanitarian organisation which works in over 75 countries across Africa, the Americas, and Asia to advance children’s rights and equality for girls. Its focus is on child protection, education, child par ...

, a non-governmental organization that operates worldwide. The idea for an international day of observance and celebration grew out of Plan International's

Because I Am a Girl Because I Am a Girl is an international movement by the aid organization Plan. The campaign is made to address the issue of gender discrimination around the world."Discrimination against girls 'still deeply entrenched'", ''The Independent'', 15 May ...

campaign, which raises awareness of the importance of nurturing girls globally and in developing countries in particular. Plan International representatives in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

approached the Canadian federal government to seek to the coalition of supporters raised awareness of the initiative internationally. Eventually, Plan International urged the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

to become involved. International Day of Girls was formally proposed as a resolution by Canada in the United Nations General Assembly.

Rona Ambrose Ronalee Ambrose Veitch ( , née Chapchuk; born March 15, 1969) is a Canadian former politician who was interim leader of the Conservative Party and the leader of the Opposition between 2015 and 2017. She was the Conservative Party member of ...

, Canada's Minister for the Status of Women, sponsored the resolution; a delegation of women and girls made presentations in support of the initiative at the 55th

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gend ...

. On December 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly voted to pass a resolution adopting October 11, 2012 as the inaugural International Day of Girls. The resolution states that the Day of Girls recognizes: Each year's Day of Girls has a theme; the first was "ending child marriage", the second, in 2013, was "innovating for girls' education", the third, in 2014, was "Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence", and the fourth, in 2015, was " The Power of Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030". The 2016 theme was "Girls' Progress = Goals' Progress: What Counts for Girls", the 2017 theme was "EmPOWER Girls: Before, during and after

crises A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

", and the theme for 2018 was "With Her: A Skilled Girl Force". By 2013, worldwide, there were around 2,043 events for Day of Girls.

Events worldwide

Various events to promote the Day of Girls are planned in several countries. Some are sponsored by the United Nations, such as a concert in Mumbai, India. Non-governmental organizations, such as

Girl Guides Australia Girl Guides Australia (GGA) is the national Guiding organisation in Australia. Its mission is to empower girls and young women to grow into confident, self-respecting members of the community. Membership is open to all girls and young women fro ...

, also support events and activities for International Day of Girls. Local organizations have developed their own events, such as Girls and Football South Africa, who, in 2012, distributed T-shirts on International Day of Girls to commemorate the 1956

Black Sash The Black Sash is a South African human rights organisation. It was founded in Johannesburg in 1955 as a non-violent resistance organisation for liberal white women. Origins The Black Sash was founded on 19 May 1955 by six middle-class white ...

march by 20,000 women. An all-day event was held on London's

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

in 2013, which included theatre and film performances produced by Body Gossip, an organisation that campaigns on body image and mental health issues. For the first Day of Girls, a virtual event was developed by Sage Girl and iTwixie to bring thousands of individuals and organizations together online. In 2016, London held a Women of the World (WOW) festival where 250 London school-aged girls were paired with women mentors. Also in 2016, the President of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

, issued a proclamation supporting an end to gender disparity.

Social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

uses the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

#dayofthegirl to track events and news about the day.

References

International girl child day:अंतर्राष्ट्रीय बालिका दिवस। International girl child day:अंतर्राष्ट्रीय बालिका दिवस।

Bibliography

External links