Context

• International Day of the Girl Child has been observed recently with the theme for this year ‘With Her: A Skilled GirlForce.
• The celebration of the day propounds the eventual emergence of girls as a distinct cohort in development policy.

About

Aim:

International Day of the Girl is declared by United Nations and observed every year on 11^thOctober. It aims:

• To highlight the challenges of gender inequality that girls are facing in present world. The inequality includes areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and access to employment.
• To explore the needs of the girls and means to address them.
• To empower girls andfulfil their human rights.

2018 Theme: ‘With Her: A Skilled GirlForce

Under the theme, International Day of the Girl will

• Mark the beginning of a year-long effort to bring together partners and stakeholders together to work for increasing women participation in workforce.
• Coordinate to increase investment in educating and skilling the girl child through policy interventions.
• Advocate for, and draw attention and investments to, the most pressing needs and opportunities for girls to attain skills for employability.

Significance

• International Day of Girl Child is significant since girls are one of the most marginalised sections of our society. It emphasises to include challenges faced by girls into global plan development which otherwise remain unnoticed. As per UN reports, about 600 million adolescent girls which will enter the workforce in next two decades would most likely work in informal sector where low or no pay, abuse and exploitation are common. In wake of this, Day of Girls becomes an important reminder to the societies and governments to specific intervention for ameliorating the miseries of girls.
  
  

  History: The International Day of Girls initiative began as a project of Plan International, a non-governmental organization that operates worldwide. The idea for an international day of observance and celebration grew out of Plan International's ‘Because I Am a Girl’ campaign, which raises awareness of the importance of nurturing girls globally and in developing countries in particular. Plan International representatives in Canada approached the Canadian federal government to seek to the coalition of supporters raised awareness of the initiative internationally. Eventually, Plan International urged the United Nations to become involved 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.

Learning Aid