International Day of the Girl Child
| International Day of the Girl Child | |
|---|---|
| Also called | International Day of the Girl, Day of the Girl |
| Type | International |
| Significance | Raise awareness of issues facing girls internationally surrounding education, nutrition, child marriage, legal and medical rights |
| Date | 11 October |
| Frequency | annual |
| First time | 11 October 2012 |
International Day of the Girl Child is an international observance day declared by the United Nations; it is also called the Day of the Girl and the International Day of the Girl. October 11, 2012, was the first Day of the Girl. The observation supports more opportunity for girls and increases awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender. This inequality includes areas such as right to education/access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence against women and unfree child marriage. The celebration of the day also "reflects the successful emergence of girls and young women as a distinct cohort in development policy, programming, campaigning and research."
International Day of the Girl Child increases awareness of many issues and inequalities faced by girls around the world. Many global development plans do not include or consider girls, and their issues and problems become "invisible." More than 62 million girls around the world have no access to education. Worldwide and collectively, girls ages 5 to 14 spend more than 160 million hours more on household chores than boys of the same age do. Globally, one in four girls are married before age 18. On October 11, 2016, Emma Watson, who is also the United Nations Women's Goodwill Ambassador, urged countries and families worldwide to end child marriage. Many girls around the world are vulnerable to acts of sexual violence and the perpetrators often go unpunished.
The Day of the Girl helps raise awareness not only of the issues that girls face, but also 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 by helping girls have access to higher paying jobs.
The International Day of the Girl Child initiative began as a project of Plan International, 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 campaign, which raises awareness of the importance of nurturing girls globally and in developing countries in particular. Plan International representatives in Canada 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 to become involved.
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