The United Nations has celebrated October 11 as the International Day of the Girl since 2012.
The UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to recognize the challenges facing girls and set aside the IDG to highlight, discuss, and take action to advance opportunities for girls everywhere: “Empowerment of and investment in girls are key in breaking the cycle of discrimination and violence and in promoting and protecting the full and effective enjoyment of their human rights…”
This year marks the 8th anniversary of International Day of the Girl (IDG). The 2019 theme is “GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable” spotlighting achievements by, with and for girls since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action twenty-five years ago: “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… Today, these movements have expanded. They are being organized by and for adolescent girls, and tackling 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.”
Every year, there is a free event on October 11 held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York that is completely run by girls called the “Girls Speak Out”. Preceding this event are 11 Days of transformative action in support of girls’ rights. PPSEAWA is a proud co-sponsor for the Collective Day of Action for Girls on October 11! The host for the Girls Speak Out at the UN is the Working Group on Girls (WGG), a coalition of national and international non-governmental organizations with representation at the United Nations. Amy Banker is PPSEAWA International’s Representative on the WGG.