Let's be honest: girls should be celebrated all day, every day. But this October, there is a special holiday dedicated to young women, giving us even more reason to treasure and lift them up all around the world: International Day of the Girl.
Since 2012, October 11 has been officially recognized as the International Day of the Girl, a time when the world can take stock of the position and value of girls in our everyday lives, and think — or better yet, take action — about the ways in which we can all come together to better support them. According to the United Nations, "the day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls' empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights." This year, the UN's theme for the day is "GirlForce: Unscripted and unstoppable,” in which they officially plan to celebrate the achievements of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which is a comprehensive policy agenda for the empowerment of women drafted by delegates from over 200 countries 25 years ago.
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For some however, it may not be enough to simply take October 11 to ponder. Thankfully, this year, there's a way you can take action — no matter where you live. Refinery29 is proud to be partnering up with Girls Who Code, which aims to close the gender gap in technology, for the #MarchForSisterhood, the first-ever all-digital global march that aims to amplify the voices of girls all around the world.
Their event invites people wherever they are to share videos of themselves on their social media accounts marching for any cause that matters to them. The #MarchForSisterhood is organized by Team Sisterhood, a diverse group within Girls Who Code of 100 young female activists who are passionate about a wide range of issues — from gender equality to climate change.
"As an organization, we put girls and the issues they care about at the center of our work 365 days a year," said Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, "but we recognize in this political climate especially, it’s hard to get the world’s attention. So we wanted to organize the #MarchForSisterhood on a day where girls already have the floor — and we see our role as handing them a megaphone."
Saujani hopes that when people scroll through your feed on International Day of the Girl, that they be bombarded with images and videos of people in their life marching for girls and the issues affecting them and also feel encouraged to participate. "I hope that everyone who participates in the march feels connected to something larger, something positive in a time when it feels easier to just turn the news off. We aren’t marching for one cause, for Democrats or Republicans, we are marching for the girls around the world bringing change to their communities."
For more information and to see how you can get involved, visit www.marchforsisterhood.com.