Girls’ rights are not humanitarian occurrences—they are the world we need to build now. The call to action is timely because, “Girls’ Rights are Our Future.”
Darakshan Hassan Bhat
The day for girl child is celebrated annually on the 11th of october as a way of drawing the attention of the public to the various challenges faced by girls all over the world. Not only the difficulties but also the successes and opportunities of girls and their equality and rights are focused on. It was established by the United Nations in 2011 to call for society’s attention to girls’ rights and the need to provide more opportunities for girls to succeed. There is always a theme every year in order to facilitate initiatives and policies that are meant to address those issues.
The theme of the year 2024 is “Girls Rights, Our Future” focusing on building structures that support girls to achieve their full potential and be agents of change in their communities and the world.
The basic consideration of this day is the question of girl’s rights. Girls have rights that are well defined as human rights from right to life, right to education, right to freedom of expression to the freedom of choice, among the list no right is a special right given to women and girls but are basic human rights. Despite this, millions of girls globally suffer from discrimination, violence, and inequalities. From inability to secure quality education, girl child drops out of school then gets into early marriages with no idea of how to manage their own health and the wellbeing of their children. The lack of knowledge and skill makes them actually unfit to make a family. This becomes one of the reasons why despite a lot of efforts and initiatives, gender based violence persists. When someone is deprived of justice and education themselves probability is they cannot avail and prioritise it for others. This not only fails the potential inherent in half of our population but also excludes societies from valued contributions, skill, and outlooks that may be offered. If girls are educated they are also likely to enrol their own children and ensure that they attend school; a process that goes round educating the entire population and empowering them. It means respecting girls’ rights and their civil liberties that include the right to education, health, and freedom for abuse and exploitation, she is enabled to be a leader, inventor and an agent of change.
Unfortunately, the non-ideal situation is observed worldwide. As of 2021, over 130 million girls of school going age are out of school, millions of girls face inability to read, face gender based violence, female genital mutilation/cutting, and many more violences. This is not only sin in moral terms but is posing a negative impact on social and economic development of an entire community and the nation. Girls’ well-being and prosperity are related to the future, when girls are educated, healthy and empowered they will lay the foundations of strength, courage and discipline in a society. The educated female is healthier, more prosperous, and becomes less prone to poverty and the cycle of violence hence contributes more to a prosperity of the nation. Additionally, when girls are encouraged to innovate in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) areas they help to bring about change in critical areas that define the future. Broad issues such as Climate Change, even technological innovation, girls are capable if empowered enough to be at the helm of solving the world’s problems.
This is why it remains our modest duty to ensure the removal of obstacles to girls’ success. Boys, girls, women, communities, organisations and even governments have the responsibility of protecting and promoting the rights of girls. This entails development of policies that will prevent girls from being abused, will provide them with a right to education, and will allow them to get the same opportunities as boys in all aspects of life. This is equally true where social change seeks to alter attitudes that consider girls as inferior to boys or that they don’t deserve a shot. Empowerment of girls entails changing of cultural barriers and practices and promoting early women’s desires and ambitions for success with alternatives of discrimination and violence. However, it means that families and communities themselves must be involved in promotion of girl’s rights. Some key stakeholders like parents, educators, activists and the community can do this by encouraging the education of girl children, protecting her health and nurturing her dreams. School environment has to be made safe for girls in order to productively engage and also develop leadership personalities.
As we celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child every year, let it mark a commitment to the rights and empowerment of the girl child again. There is no time we should wait in order to guarantee the rights of girls to have the chance to dream, learn, and lead. When we invest in girls, we are investing in a society that is equal, just, and prosperous in the future.
