International Day of the Girl Child: International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated annually on 11 October to highlight and draw attention to the challenges that girls face. It is also necessary to focus on their human rights and empowerment.
International Day of the Girl Child
International Day of the Girl Child: International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated annually on 11 October to highlight and draw attention to the challenges that girls face. It is also necessary to focus on their human rights and empowerment. 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.
International Day of the Girl Child
The International Day of the Girl Child was first celebrated on October 11, 2012. 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.
International Day of the Girl Child: History
More than 62 million girls around the world had no access to education, as of 2014. 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.
The International Day of the Girl Child started as an initiative of the Plan International, a non-governmental organization that operates worldwide. Plan international had started a campaign called “Because I Am a Girl” which raises awareness of the importance of nurturing girls globally and in developing countries in particular. International Day of Girls was formally proposed as a resolution by Canada in the United Nations General Assembly.
On December 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly voted to pass a resolution adopting October 11, 2012 as the inaugural International Day of Girls. Thus, the first International Day of the Girl Child was observed on 11 October 2012 and its theme at that time was “Ending Child Marriage”.
In 2022, we commemorated the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl (IDG). The International Day of the Girl Child focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights.
Adolescent girls have the right to a safe, educated, and healthy life, not only during these critical formative years, but also as they mature into women. If effectively supported during the adolescent years, girls have the potential to change the world – both as the empowered girls of today and as tomorrow’s workers, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads, and political leaders. An investment in realizing the power of adolescent girls upholds their rights today and promises a more equitable and prosperous future, one in which half of humanity is an equal partner in solving the problems of climate change, political conflict, economic growth, disease prevention, and global sustainability.
Girls are breaking boundaries and barriers posed by stereotypes and exclusion, including those directed at children with disabilities and those living in marginalized communities. As entrepreneurs, innovators and initiators of global movements, girls are creating a world that is relevant for them and future generations.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in 2015, embody a roadmap for progress that is sustainable and leaves no one behind.
Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is integral to each of the 17 goals. Only by ensuring the rights of women and girls across all the goals will we get to justice and inclusion, economies that work for all, and sustaining our shared environment now and for future generations.
International Day of the Girl Child Theme
| Theme for the International Day of the Girl Child | |
| Year | Theme |
| 2012 | Ending Child Marriage |
| 2013 | Innovating for Girls’ Education |
| 2014 | Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence |
| 2015 | The Power of Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030 |
| 2016 | Girls’ Progress = Goals’ Progress: What Counts for Girls |
| 2017 | EmPOWER Girls: Before, during and after crises |
| 2018 | With Her: A Skilled Girl Force |
| 2019 | GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable |
| 2020 | My voice, our equal future |
| 2021 | Digital generation. Our generation |
| 2022 | Our time is now — Our rights, Our future |
| 2023 | Our time is now—our rights, our future |
Why International Girl Child Day Is Celebrated?
International Day of the Girl Child is important because:
1. It works towards eliminating deep-seated gender-based issues
Deep-rooted problematic mindsets and issues passed on for generations have made gender-based oppression and discrimination alarmingly common in every household, particularly in developing nations. International Day of the Girl Child attempts to eliminate the tragic plight of young girls around the world.
2. It empowers girls
Amid the celebration of Mother’s Day, Daughter’s Day, and even Women’s Day, highlighting the rights of young girls who are silently persecuted around the world is a formidable step. It is on this day that we get to appreciate the girls who lighten up our world.
3. Empowered girls grow up to be empowered women
Youth is a turning point in every person’s life. It determines the course of girls’ lives. So nurturing girls in their youth is beneficial to all. If they are empowered at a very young and vulnerable age, they can grow into liberated and enlightened women of the future. It’s a win for the entire society.
The Government of India has also implemented several schemes to empower girls, under which “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” is one of them. Apart from this, the central and state governments are also taking initiatives and implementing various schemes. In India too, National Girl Child Day is celebrated every year on 24 January.
National Girl Child Day
The National Girl Child Day is celebrated in India every year on January 24. It was initiated in 2008 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the government of India, to spread public awareness about inequities that girls face in Indian society. The day is celebrated with organized programs including awareness campaigns about Save the Girl Child, child sex ratios, and the creation of a healthy and safe environment for girls. In 2019, the day was celebrated with the theme, ‘Empowering Girls for a Brighter Tomorrow’.
The objective behind celebrating National Girl Child Day is to provide support and opportunities to the girls of India. As we know in India, gender inequality is one of the major issues that is needed to be focused on and it exists in several areas including legal rights, education, medical care, marriage, etc. Female foeticide is another major issue that further affects the demographic problems in India.
International Women’s Day is also celebrated globally on 8th March. International Women’s Day is dedicated to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, as well as raising awareness of the ongoing struggle for gender equality.