INTERNATIONAL Day of the Girl Child is commemorated each year on 11 October. The eThekwini Municipality shared a Facebook post to commemorate the awareness day.
“The day focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights,” read the post.
The awareness day was declared by the United Nations (UN) in 2012, according to the UN website.
“This year, under the theme, GirlForce: Unscripted and unstoppable, we will celebrate achievements by, with and for girls since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action,” reads the site.
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The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is a comprehensive policy agenda for the empowerment of women. It was adopted after a conference held over two decades ago.
“Nearly 25 years ago, some 30,000 women and men from nearly 200 countries arrived in Beijing, China for the Fourth World Conference on Women, determined to recognise the rights of women and girls as human rights,” reads the UN site.
The agenda has lead global movements on issues ranging from sexual and reproductive health rights to equal pay. According to the UN, more girls are attending and completing school and fewer are getting married or becoming mothers while still children.
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