Learn More about Why October 11 is Such a Special Day for Girls
Do you know what is celebrated on 11 October? Well, it is a very special day for the women and especially the girls. No, we are not talking about Mother’s Day since girls cannot be included on that day. We are talking about a day that is celebrated as International Girl Child Day. There are so many special occasions that we celebrate with our loved ones such as Friendship Day, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day and much more. However, there is one special day that is meant for the entire girl child group all around the world. The International and national girl child day is celebrated on the 11th of October. This day is marked for the girls all around the world who are proud of their lives and the achievements that they have made. This is an incredibly special day that is meant to provide a boost and motivation to the overall development of children who are girls.
Logo about Empowering Girls
On this day, celebrations occur all over the world to commemorate and applaud the development of girl children all over the world. So, why do you think October 11 is celebrated as International Girl Child Day? Read this article ahead to find out more about this day.
Why is October 11 Special Day for Girls?
About 25 years ago in the year 1995, a conference was organized in Beijing by the United Nations. The topic of discussion for the conference was the welfare and development of women. However, this conference turned out to be one of the most landmarked events of all time. For the very first time, various countries at an international gathering recognized the fact that not just women but girls all over the world are facing discrimination and need support for proper and healthy development.
Due to the efforts made in this conference, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was developed. As a result of that, there were new goals set to improve the standards of living for girl children all over the world in different countries. Some of the main areas that were tackled by this plan were access to proper healthcare, assurance of physical safety, access to proper education, and healthy development of the girl child.
In order to applaud the effort made by the nations, on the 19th of December 2011, 11th October was declared as the International Day of the Girl Child. The main objective of the day is to look at the improvements that have been made to empower girl children in different nations. Children all over the world were provided with the right resources and tools that could help them prosper in their lives.
What was the Theme for the International Day of the Girl in 2011?
In the past year, October 11 was celebrated across the world and the theme for the celebration was declared by the United Nations. For the year 2021, the International Girl Child Day theme was ‘My Voice, Our Equal Future’. Due to the recent attack of the Covid-19 pandemic, there were different changes made to the systems, causing a lot of challenges for the girl children. There is an estimate that about 11 million girls might not even return to their schools due to the pandemic effects. In order to focus on the struggles posed by the pandemic, the United Nations offered an invitation for people to come and talk about the different ways the girl child can reclaim equal rights to education and development. The main motto was to provide an equal future for the girl child.
October 11 Speciality: What Progress Has Been Made for the Girl Child?
While there have been different types of changes made for the overall prosperity and development of the girl child, there are still some areas that require a significant amount of improvement. If the true goal is to empower girls and women to have an equal future and a healthy life, there is a need for more effort and improvement for sure. For example, here we are providing some statistics that might open your eyes to the state of the girl child.
Around the world, one out of every four girls belonging to the age group of 15-19 is neither educated properly nor has the chance for employment. They don’t even have the training to secure any job position. Measures should be taken to make sure that not only proper education is provided to the girls but they are also offered employment opportunities.
UNESCO has made an estimation that close to 129 million girls that belong to the school-going age aren’t actually in school.
Just about 49% of the countries all over the world have managed to achieve gender equality in the field of primary education for children.
We understand that these statistics might look like a discouraging element. However, by reading these statistics, one can realize the potential that we have for growth and progress. To make things a little bit better, here are some things that can happen if girls are able to receive equality in the field of education:
If a girl child is sent to school to study for just one extra year, the earnings of the girl as an adult can experience an increase of 20%.
Girls who have managed to complete their Secondary education can earn twice as much money as the girls who haven’t had any kind of formal education.
With more and more girls studying and realizing the rights that they have, the number of child marriages in the country gets reduced as well.
Conclusion
The importance of 11 October is that it celebrates the girl child and what she is capable of. We, as society members, can take small steps to create a better world for girl children these days. Even by making small contributions to the world, we can create a whole lot of difference. One simple way you can make a contribution is to make sure that they are able to receive a proper education.
