Today, October 11, is International Day of the Girl Child, a project from Plan which the UN designated in 2012. This year's theme, “Empowering adolescent girls: Ending the cycle of violence,” is dedicated to helping girls all over the world break free of gender-based violence, especially the issues of child marriage and FGM, female genital mutilation. Plan has also launched the "Because I Am a Girl" campaign, a subject that is understandably near and dear to the hearts and minds of everyone here at All Women Stalk.
Our own Vanessa Salles joined us in this campaign with a touching and informative video, explaining why the “Because I Am a Girl” campaign is so important:
We need to put girls' rights front and center, so they can't be ignored. Plan has teams working around the world, and together they have already helped save 58 million girls from violence, while also giving them access to the education and skills they need to become strong, confident, educated, and independent women with all the power necessary to change their communities for the better.
We invite you to stand up with us – and, in so doing, to stand up for millions upon millions of girls all over the world. Let everyone know that you don't want the rights of girls to be ignored any longer. Tweet about it. Facebook about it. Blog and vlog about it. You can even follow Pinky's lead:
All it takes is a photo and a click. In the spirit of raising awareness, Plan has also launched a new app: Face Up. When you upload your photo, it will digitally place the words, “I'm putting girls' rights where they can't be ignored” on your picture. You can then save it to Plan's online gallery, make it your profile, share it on Twitter and Instagram – whatever you like. Use the hashtag #FaceUp, and make sure you Tweet to @PlanUK as well.
Because I am a girl, I believe that every girl deserves the chance to go after her dreams, to feel safe and secure, and to live in a world where she is not forced to marry a man she neither knows nor loves, or to have her body mutilated. What do you believe?