International Day of the Girl Child is an international observance day declared by the United Nations; it is also called the Day of Girls and the International Day of the Girl. October 11, 2012, was the first Day of the Girl Child. 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 access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence against women and forced 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 is opportunity for everyone of us to give support and empower girls worldwide to reach their potential.
According to Care.org, girls embody strength, resilience, and hope. But when crisis strikes, they’re the most likely to become targets of violence and abuse — sexual violence as a weapon of war, exploitation and harassment as refugees, domestic violence and abuse, and child marriage in the upheaval of displacement.
More attention should be paid to the event especially in Africa.