U.N. Women: International Day of the Girl Child
In this statement, U.N. Women recognizes the International Day of the Girl Child, held annually on October 11. “For this year’s International Day of the Girl, we’re coming together under the theme ‘GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable,’ to celebrate all of the achievements by, with, and for girls since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the passage of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. But many of the commitments made to girls are left unfulfilled. Each year, 12 million girls under 18 are married; 130 million girls worldwide are still out of school; and approximately 15 million adolescent girls aged 15-19 have experience forced sex. The more than 1.1 billion girls in the world have had enough…” (10/11).

UNAIDS: UNAIDS urges all countries to seize the opportunity to unleash the power and potential of this generation of girls
“…A formidable and unprecedented new generation of young women are demanding action and accountability on the many issues affecting them, from climate change to girls’ education, gender equality, ending early, forced and child marriage, menstrual health, and eliminating gender-based violence. … The bold targets of the 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS and the UNAIDS 2016-2021 Strategy uphold the empowerment of women and girls, rights and gender equality as imperatives to ending AIDS and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals…” (10/11).