Today is the International Day of the Girl.
The International Day of the Girl (IDG) is observed annually on 11 October, being a global platform to advocate for the full spectrum of girls’ rights.
In marking the day, UNICEF states, “This year, at a time when we are seeing a range of movements and actions to curtail girls’ and women’s rights and roll back progress on gender equality, we see particularly harsh impacts on girls.
The UN agency notes that, “From maternal health care and parenting support for adolescent mothers, to digital and life skills training; from comprehensive sexuality education to survivor support services and violence prevention programmes; there is an urgent need for increased attention and resourcing for the key areas that enable girls to realize their rights and achieve their full potential.”
The world body notes that in responding to girls’ calls for change, the global community must move beyond reaffirming commitments and invest boldly in the action needed to make that change.
“When we pay attention, we see that, already, many girls are championing solutions and change in their communities. Together with our government and civil society partners, UNICEF envisions a world where girls have space to shape government policy and spending to inform the rules and norms by which businesses should operate, and to direct the priorities for new research and innovations. These examples should not be novelties, but the norm,” the agency says.
The global body laments that, in almost every country, patriarchy and power dynamics afford boys comparative advantages compared to girls in most domains.
“These advantages accrue over time. During adolescence, paths diverge considerably. Social and gender norms constrict adolescent girls’ access to public spaces, socialize girls to be docile and obedient (“good girls”), and reinforce perceptions that girls’ appearances, and potential and actual role in care work, is valued more than their studies in school, leadership in business, or voice in policy-making.”
This divergence is one of the reasons girls are left behind across multiple dimensions.
Citing examples of the problems that come on account of the divergence, UNICEF notes that:
School drop-out rate
Nearly 1 in 5 girls are still not completing lower-secondary and nearly 4 in 10 girls are not completing upper-secondary school today. And in certain regions, the numbers are even more dismal.
Internet access
Around 90 per cent of adolescent girls and young women do not use the internet in low-income countries, while their male peers are twice as likely to be online.
Unpaid labour
Globally, girls aged 5-14 spend 160 million more hours every day on unpaid care and domestic work than boys of the same age. This unequal distribution in unpaid work intensifies in adolescence with serious implications for girls’ well-being.
HIV infections/Teen pregnancy
Adolescent girls continue to account for 3 in 4 new HIV infections among adolescents.
Meeting adolescent girls’ demands for family planning with modern methods has been slow, increasing from 55% to 60% since 2012. This means that 4 in 10 adolescent girls aged 15-19 who want to avoid pregnancy are not using a modern method, and teenage pregnancy is a leading cause of mortality for adolescent girls.
Child marriage
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, 100 million girls were at risk of child marriage in the next decade. And now over the next 10 years, up to 10 million more girls worldwide will be at risk of marrying as children because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sexual violence
Nearly 1 in 4 married/partnered adolescent girls aged 15-19 have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner at least once in their lifetime.
