Today marks 10 years of the inception of the International Day of the Girl Child.
This is a day to empower girls and promote gender equality to accelerate sustainable development and bringing an end to all forms of discrimination against girls and women.
The United Nations General Assembly declared October 11 as International Day of the Girl Child, as a follow up to the Beijing Conference on Women in 1995 which advanced the rights of not only women but girls.
The Day is to draw people’s attention to the urgency required in addressing the challenges girls face, and to promote the empowerment of girls towards fulfilling their human rights.
Commemoration of the day in Ghana is to create awareness on the challenges and opportunities that exist for the girl child, to provide opportunity for girls to access resources, including the networks and organizations that support their education and prioritize their mental and physical well-being, as well as advocate for strengthening of services for girls at all times but especially in crisis response and recovery.
The day is also to let girls lead by putting girls in the forefront of change efforts, hearing their voices, responding to their questions, and welcoming them in decision-making spaces.
As part part of activities to mark the day, some girls were on the Uniiq Breakfast Drive to advance the course of the girl child.
The girls called for provision of changing rooms in schools to enable girls to feel more comfortable to attend schools while menstruating.
They also reinforced calls for the removal of taxes on sanitary pads to make them affordable.