October 11 International Day of the Girl Child

International Day of the Girl Child is a day designated by the United Nations to draw attention to girls around the world. This day is observed every year on October 11.

In 1995, a World Conference on Women was held in Beijing. At this conference, countries adopted the Beijing Declaration, a document addressing the rights of women and girls.

^{Visual Representing International Day of the Girl Child (Generated by Artificial Intelligence)}

Years later, United Nations member states decided to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child. The proposals of Türkiye, Canada and Peru played a key role in this decision.^【1】

Since 2012, October 11 has been celebrated globally as the day for girls. The resolution emphasized that supporting girls and investing in them helps prevent discrimination and violence.^【2】

In some parts of the world, girls are denied access to education or cannot choose their desired profession simply because they are girls. Globally, 133 million girls are out of school.^【3】

Additionally, one in five young women aged 20 to 24 were married before the age of 18.^【4】 This often leads to girls dropping out of school.

Over the past thirty years, the following progress has been recorded: child marriage has nearly halved, rates of child marriage have declined, and many countries have banned discrimination and violence against girls. It is also estimated that over the last 25 years, approximately 68 million child marriages have been prevented.^【5】

Each additional year of secondary education can increase a girl’s future earnings by between 10 and 20 percent.^【6】

^{Visual Representing International Day of the Girl Child (Generated by Artificial Intelligence)}

Each year, the United Nations selects a theme in collaboration with girls for this day. This year’s theme is: “End child marriage and invest in girls’ rights!”

More than 12 million girls around the world are married before reaching adulthood, which equates to approximately one girl every three seconds.^【7】 According to treaties adopted by the United Nations, every girl has the right to grow up, learn, make her own choices, and determine her own future.

• We can support the dreams of our female friends and siblings.
• We can remember that girls have the same rights and opportunities as boys.
• We can treat everyone equally at school and at home.
• We can raise awareness about this day by sharing what we have learned with our families and friends.