The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has extended heartfelt felicitations to all girls and young women in Ghana on the celebration of International Day of the Girl Child.
Collaborating with the Ministry to make the celebration successful are UNICEF, UNHCR, COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL, PLAN GHANA, WORLD VISION and other Partners.
The United Nations General Assembly on December 19, 2011, declared October 11 as International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC).
The declaration built on the outcomes of the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing, which advanced the rights of not only women but girls (Beijing Declaration).
The International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated each year to direct people’s attention to the need to address the challenges facing girls and to promote girls’ empowerment towards the fulfilment of their human rights.
The celebration aims to empower girls and promote gender equality as crucial to accelerating sustainable development and bringing an end to all forms of discrimination against girls and women.
This year, the celebration is driven by both the commemoration of the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) that launches a 5-year commitment from civil society leaders, governments, corporations and change makers for bold gender equality impacts, as well as two years of COVID-19 pandemic that has accelerated digital platforms for learning, earning and connecting, highlighting girls’ diverse digital realities.
The Generation Equality Forum aims to fuel a powerful and enduring coalition for gender equality, bringing together governments, activists, corporations, feminist organizations, youth and allies to achieve transformative change.
The theme for this year’s IDGC celebration is “The Digital Generation: Promoting Citizenship for Girls without Discrimination which was derived from the main theme; “Digital generation, Our generation.”
These themes stem from the existing data on gender digital divide in connectivity, devices and use and the inequity and exclusion gap across geographies and generations, a huge challenge that needs to be addressed for the digital revolution to be for all, with all, by all.
The gender inequality in digital literacy such as the growth in global internet user gender gap, from 11 per cent in 2013 to 17 per cent in 2019, is widest in the world’s least developed countries at 43 per cent.
Also 2.2 billion people below the age of 25 do not have internet access at home, with girls more likely to be cut off.
It is therefore a call to all, to seize the momentum to drive action and accountability of GEF commitments made, for and with girls to achieve a bold vision of bridging the digital gender divide.
The objectives for the celebration are to provide young girls with exposure and the requisite etiquette on internet use, and the economic benefits of the digital environment, create awareness among girls on the dangers internet can pose to their safety as well as to provide an opportunity for girls to make a case for increased investments from stakeholders towards closing the digital divide; access to devices, connectivity, skills and safety.
“The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection with enormous pride and respect acknowledge all stakeholders especially, UNICEF, World Vision International Ghana, Plan International Ghana and Compassion International on this special occasion for their relentless inputs towards dismantling the inequality barrier and improving the status of girls and young women.”
“Our hope is that the celebration will strengthen our tenacity and that of all stakeholders in fighting all forms of obstacles hindering the development of girls to achieve a bold vision of bridging the gender divide.”
“Once again, the Ministry and its partners wish all girls and young women a blissful International Day of the Girl Child.”
Source: Mypublisher24.com