Every year on October 11, we celebrate International Day of the Girl Child, which the United Nations adopted to bring attention to the challenges girls all around the world face on a daily basis.
The international holiday aligns with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 5, which focuses on gender equality. Women continue to face gender discrimination, especially in the workforce, with women only holding 27 percent of managerial positions worldwide. The gender gap trickles down to the education system, with over 433 million women lacking basic literacy skills.
To solve the issues related to gender inequality and to achieve SDG 5, we need to invest in the lives and education of young girls. We need to provide them with skills that go beyond a basic education.
Women are an Unstoppable Force
Every year the UN assigns a theme to the International Day of the Girl Child and this year's theme is "GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable," which celebrates the achievements of girls and woman since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted nearly 25 years ago. In 1995, more than 30,000 woman from over 200 countries met at the World Conference on Women and adopted a comprehensive policy agenda dedicated to the empowerment of woman.
In the 25 years since the world conference, girls have taken the agendas from the Beijing Declaration and started movements on a variety of issues ranging from equal pay to sexual and reproductive health rights. More and more girls are attending and completing school and fewer are getting married or becoming mothers while still children themselves.
How we are Making a Difference
Planet Aid knows the impact that a proper education can have on a child, especially a girl. That is why we support girls' education projects in several countries all over the world. We currently support Nikhalamo in Mozambique, which is implemented by ADPP Mozambique with funding from USAID. The goal of the project is to reduce the obstacles that prevent girls from transitioning from upper primary school (sixth and seventh grade) to secondary school.
While working with 18 primary schools and three secondary schools, the project has assisted over 3,000 girls and young women. The project eliminates obstacles that sometimes prevent children from completing school, such as eliminating school registration fees and providing students with supplies and uniforms. The young women that are in the project complete a variety of activities, including community awareness campaigns and gender-focused school committee training.
How you can Make a Difference
There are many ways you can use this special day to advance gender equality.
- Share stories on all of your social media platforms of how girls in your life are #Unscripted and #Unstoppable. Use the stories, along with photos, to raise awareness about the progress that must be made to create equal rights for women.
- Donate to Planet Aid. Your donation will go towards funding our development projects all over the world. Several of our projects are focused on uplifting and educating girls and provding a safe path to womanhood.