International Day of the Girl- October 11th, 2012

Hope Lewis

ED2 - Karongi District, Western Province
*Hope recently conquered Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania during vacation!*

The United Nations has declared October 11^th International Day of the Girl Child.  Young female activists in the United States and Canada proposed the day to the UN in 2011 to highlight the challenges of being a young girl locally and internationally.

These challenges include poor body image, forced marriage, gender based violence, school dropout, and illiteracy among others.  Worldwide, only 30% of girls in the world are enrolled in secondary school. One in seven girls in developing countries is married off before the age of 15 (http://dayofthegirl.org/girls-issues/). 

What can you do to combat these challenges for young girls? 

First, if you are teacher like me, find ways to encourage the girls in your classes to speak out in class and read outside the classroom.  For every male student answering a question, choose a female student to respond.  To further encourage female participation, present topics in class that girls can relate to such as female leaders, problems with relationships, self esteem, and self confidence.

Secondly, the purpose of this day is to spread knowledge about girl’s issues.  Read about gender based violence and its prevalence or look up articles on sex trafficking of young females across the globe.  Once you read about these issues, you can discuss them with others.  Through teaching female sensitive topics, reading about girl’s issues, and discussing them with others, you will be empowering young women to see themselves as powerful, confident, and strong young women.