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International Day of the Girl Child: Shining a light on the future through education

On 11 October 2024, the International Day of the Girl Child will be celebrated under the theme ‘Girls’ Vision for the Future’. This theme expresses the urgency to act on the challenges girls face while highlighting the enduring hope they embody through their voices.

The stories and testimonies of girls around the world reveal the daily struggles they face, but also their extraordinary resilience. Girls like Onize, Esther, Blessed and Ewah Zita share their stories to remind the international community of the importance of listening to their voices, supporting their initiatives and making their vision a reality.

 

Girls' education, key to the future

Education is a fundamental pillar for breaking the cycle of inequality and violence, but it can also be the place where they are reproduced. Esther, aged 14, is a striking example of this. Faced with gender-based violence in her school, she decided to take action. ‘It was the teachers‘ voice against ours’, she recalls, speaking of the abuse suffered by her classmates. Rather than remain silent, Esther took the initiative of creating a group of 30 girls to share information about sexual and reproductive health. Through her commitment, she hopes to inspire change and enable girls to better defend themselves in the face of injustice.

As for Blessed, she remembers the day she had her first period. Her mother, lacking means and education, gave her an old piece of cloth to protect herself, and she was given no information about what this change meant. ‘I was ashamed of myself, but I couldn't talk to my mother about it because we didn't have any money,’ she says. Now a campaigner for sexual and reproductive health, Blessed is fighting to get the subject discussed in schools so that no girl feels the shame or ignorance she did.

 

Breaking down taboos to inform

Ewah Zita grew up in an environment where talking about sexuality was taboo. ‘My aunt used to pull my ear every time I tried to ask her questions’, she recalls. This lack of education led her to make uninformed decisions, with far-reaching consequences for her life. Today, Zita shares her knowledge with the girls in her community, encouraging them to educate themselves and not let taboos or fear hold them back.

Onize, now an activist in Nigeria, is a powerful example of the importance of speaking out. As a child, she was sexually abused, first by a member of her family, then by a teacher. The weight of shame and the fear of stigmatisation forced her to remain silent for years. ‘I wondered how to tell people about it, what they would say when I explained it to them’, she confides. Today, however, she is campaigning to ensure that girls, and young Nigerian women in particular, no longer live in fear or silence. ‘Never remain silent. Silence kills more lives than you think’, she insists, highlighting the need to give a voice to those who suffer in silence.

 

Girls' vision for a better future

These stories reflect not only the reality of the challenges girls face, but also their strength and ability to overcome these obstacles. By giving a voice to girls like Esther, Blessed and Zita, International Day of the Girl 2024 reminds us that the future we build depends on listening to and supporting them today.

The road to an egalitarian future is still long, but it starts with girls' voices and their vision for the future. They are calling for comprehensive education and information programmes to address early pregnancy, gender-based violence and gender inequality, and to better develop as girls, with their peers, their families and their communities. On this day, 11 October, let us remember that every girl has a voice, and that this voice has the power to change the world.
 

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These testimonies were collected as part of the ‘Voices of Youth’ multimedia series. The aim of this initiative is to enable young people in West and Central Africa to tell their stories, to make their voices heard about the challenges they face, to express their needs to lead healthy, fulfilling lives that respect themselves and others, and to demonstrate their ability to take control of their destiny when given the means to do so. It is an integral part of the West and Central Africa Commitment process for educated, healthy and fulfilled adolescents and young people.

 

Photo credits: Tremeau - FFM/UNICEF