The International Day of the Girl child

 The International Day of the Girl child

The International Day of the Girl Child was established by United Nations General Assembly recognizing that despite the progress achieved, discrimination and violence against girls and violations of their  human rights still persist.Intensification of efforts is therefore needed recognizing the fact that the empowerment of girls is key in decreasing discrimination, violence, poverty, and above all promoting and protecting  the full and effective enjoyment of their human rights.Hence empowering girls requires the active support and engagement of their parents, care takers and communities as well.

The International Day of the Girl Child was established by United Nations General Assembly on 17^th November 2011,in recalling its resolution 64/145 of 18 December 2009 and all relevant resolutions, including the agreed conclusions of the commission on the status of women, in particular those relevant to the Girl Child.

The UN felt a need to raise awareness of the challenges that millions of girls face every day. The UN declared that this day would annually be observed as the International Day of the Girl Child, starting from October 11, 2012.

The International theme as declared by UN is “Too young to wed, End child marriage”, but to customize it to the Ugandan context stakeholders suggested to change it to read “Too young to marry; end child marriage and teenage pregnancy”

The Key Stake holders for this day include:Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development, Ministry of Education and Sports, UNFPA ,National Council for children, Plan Uganda, FAWE, Raising Voices, Child fund, Uganda Children net work (UCRNN), ANPCAN, Save the Children in Uganda, VSO. Etc…….