In a statement marking the International Day of the Girl Child, recognized on October 11, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the day “is a chance for us to reaffirm our commitment to girls’ rights, to celebrate their value to society, and to address the unique challenges they still face. It is a call to action for everyone to build on the progress we have made on global women’s rights. If we heed that call, if we keep faith with the enormous potential and promise of young women, the dreams of our daughters will one day be just as viable as the dreams of our sons” (10/11). In a post on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists” blog, Melinda Gates writes the day “reminds us that girls everywhere have the same ambitions for their futures. Girls everywhere want more for themselves than their societies tell them is reasonable to expect. And girls everywhere — when they have a chance to be themselves — make the world around them better” (10/11).