By Leshi Adebayo
Since 2012, every October 11 is celebrated as the International Day of the Girl Child — a day set aside to raise awareness about the existence, importance and challenges of the girl child.
In this piece, Blackbox Nigeria traces back its major history and significance.
History
The idea of the International Day of The Girl Child was birthed in 1995 when the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action called out girls’ right which started a serious wave of international support for young and vulnerable girls.
The Declaration is known to be the most consistent blueprint for working towards achieving equality and guaranteeing better alternatives for females — women and girls — globally.
In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared October 11, the International Day of the Girl Child. This was after UNGA passed a resolution on the move in December 19, 2011.
Since then, the UN has been working towards recognizing the challenges and difficulties girls, around the world are faced with, and proffering solutions to these problems.
Significance
1. One of the core goals of the celebration is to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment. It focuses on the rights, safety and education of girls.
2. It holds the key to achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls which is crucial to fast tracking sustainable development. Statistically, these women represent half of the world’s population.
3. It is a day for nations to see the need to pledge to assist young girls to evolve into empowered women with access to proper healthcare, skill-based learning facilities and equal opportunities in a world void of gender-based violence and discrimination.
Theme for 2021
Today marks the 26th year of the adoption of the Beijing declaration.
The theme of this year is “Digital Generation. Our Generation”. The idea is to acknowledge the growing digital world, and how the digital gap can also widen the gender gap.
