International Day of Girl Child is a celebratory observance day that was declared by the United Nations in 2012. A day devoted to girls, is that it? Absolutely not. Also known as Day of Girls, October 11 has customarily been assigned to celebrate the girl community globally.

In simple terms, it is a day dedicated to support girls and raise awareness regarding gender inequality and ways to eradicate it. While gender inequality has been a deep rooted social concern in the world, International Day of Girl Child is regarded as the face of young girls on which they become vocal about the problems faced by them.

History of International Day of Girl Child 

The need to establish an event focusing on young and vulnerable girls was pinned down in 1995 at the World Conference on Women in Beijing. A day to identify women and address their concerns was felt. This gave rise to a resolution by the United Nations to declare October 11 as International Day of Girl Child. This day clocked its 25 years of celebrations in 2020 marking the adoption of the Beijing declaration.

International Day of Girl Child 2021 

This year, in 2021,  the theme for International Day of Girl Child is ‘Digital Generation, Our Generation.’ With this theme, the United Nations proposes to break the barriers of digital divide in the girl community and make connectivity, devices, and their use and skills accessible by every single girl child in the world.

In addition to gender inequality, this day dedicated to exhibit girl power also addresses significant questions and raises cognizance about corners like access to education, nutrition, medical care, protection from discrimination, legal rights, child marraige and violence against women.

On this day, people celebrate girl power by writing blogs, sharing video messages of inspiring adolescent girls. While gender equality is the ultimate motto, one can celebrate this day in numerous other ways.

International Day of Girl Child was a spotlight event at JD Institute of Fashion Technology as well. Students, faculty and the girl community came together to celebrate this day with a music video. Click here to watch it.