This day could be described as the brainchild of the World Conference on Women.
The International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated on October 11th to empower girls and amplify their voices. The theme for 2023 is "Invest in Girls' Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-Being." UNICEF will reaffirm its commitment to supporting girls and protecting their rights on this day.
According to a statement by the United Nations, "Responding to girls' calls for change, the global community must move beyond reaffirming commitments and invest boldly in the action needed to make that change. When we pay attention, we see that, already, many girls are championing solutions and change in their communities."
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized the importance of investing in girls' leadership to help them achieve their goals and advance gender equality.
"Women and girls can lead us to a fairer future. Let us amplify girls' voices and recommit to working together to build a world where every girl can lead and thrive," he said.
Background
In 1995, at the World Conference on Women in Beijing, countries unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action-the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing the rights of not only women but girls. The Beijing Declaration is the first to specifically call out girls' rights.
On December 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls' rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.
Significance
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 fulfillment 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.
According to the UN, 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.