International Day of the Girl Child 2023: Check date, history, theme, significance and challenges

International Day of the Girl Child 2023: Every year on October 11, the global community observes the International Day of Girl Child2023. The day aims to focus on the importance of"girls' education, their rights and promoting gender equality." The day urges global communities to make changes that could empower girls.

Women are breaking boundaries, barriers andstereotypes, but many continue to suffer in silence. From maternal health care to parenting support for adolescent mothers, to digital and life skills training; comprehensive sexuality education and violence prevention programmes; there is an urgent need for increased attention and resourcing for girls to enable their rights.

Date and Theme:

International Day of the Girl Childis observed on October 11. This year it falls on Wednesday.

The theme of International Day of the Girl 2023 according to the UNICEF website is, "Invest in Girls' Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-being." The theme focuses on taking action to curtail girls' and women's rights and gain progress on gender equality.

History and Significance:

In 1995, countries at the World Conference on Women in Beijing unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing rights of the females.

Years later, on 19 December 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Resolution 66/170 to declare 'October 11' as the International Day of the Girl Child,to recognise their rights and the challenges they face.

Challenges:

According to data by UNICEF, nearly 1 in 5 girls are still not able to complete lower-secondary education. Furthermore, 4 in 10 girls are not completing upper-secondary education.

In low-income countries, almost 90 per cent of adolescent girls and young women do not know how to use the internet, while their male peers are twice as likely to be online.

Globally, girls aged 5-14 spend 160 million more hours every day on unpaid care and domestic work than boys of the same age.

Three in fouradolescent girls continue to account for new HIV infections.

Nearly 1 in 4 adolescent girls married at the age of 15-19 have experienced sexual or physical violence by their partners at least once in their life.

(With inputs from agencies)

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