Each year on 11 October, the United Nations (UN) commemorates the International Day of the Girl Child.

The Thammasat University Library owns some books about the subject of girl studies, also known as girlhood studies, an interdisciplinary academic field of study that combines advocacy and direct perspectives and thoughts of girls themselves. This is a relatively new field, created only in the 1990s. Before then, girl studies were considered as a part of women’s studies. Now TU students who might be considering writing a thesis or academic research project will find an extensive bibliography on the subject available from the TU Library Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service.

As the UN website explains:

Since 2012, 11 October has been marked as the International Day of the Girl. The day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.

2019 Theme — GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable

Nearly 25 years ago, some 30,000 women and men from nearly 200 countries arrived in Beijing, China for the Fourth World Conference on Women, determined to recognize the rights of women and girls as human rights. The conference culminated in the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action: the most comprehensive policy agenda for the empowerment of women.

In the years following, women pressed this agenda forward, leading global movements on issues ranging from sexual and reproductive health rights to equal pay. More girls today are attending and completing school, fewer are getting married or becoming mothers while still children, and more are gaining the skills they need to excel in the future world of work.

Today, these movements have expanded…Girls are proving they are unscripted and unstoppable.

This year, under the theme, “GirlForce: Unscripted and unstoppable”, we will celebrate achievements by, with and for girls since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

Among issues being address will be child marriage, education inequality, gender-based violence, and climate change.

The 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing resulted in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the first to specifically mention girls’ rights. In 2011, UN General Assembly declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child.

Among its goals are to focus attention

• on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights. Adolescent girls have the right to a safe, educated, and healthy life, not only during these critical formative years, but also as they mature into women. If effectively supported during the adolescent years, girls have the potential to change the world – both as the empowered girls of today and as tomorrow’s workers, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads, and political leaders. An investment in realising the power of adolescent girls upholds their rights today and promises a more equitable and prosperous future, one in which half of humanity is an equal partner in solving the problems of climate change, political conflict, economic growth, disease prevention, and global sustainability.
• Girls are breaking boundaries and barriers posed by stereotypes and exclusion, including those directed at children with disabilities and those living in marginalized communities. As entrepreneurs, innovators and initiators of global movements, girls are creating a world that is relevant for them and future generations.
• The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in 2015, embody a roadmap for progress that is sustainable and leaves no one behind.
• Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is integral to each of the 17 goals. Only by ensuring the rights of women and girls across all the goals will we get to justice and inclusion, economies that work for all, and sustaining our shared environment now and for future generations.

As a study prepared for this year’s GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable theme indicates, girls’ movements today are stopping child marriage, promoting girls’ education, standing up against gender-based violence, and demanding action on climate change, among other forms of activism:

Today, girls are moving from dreaming to achieving. More are attending and completing school, fewer are getting married or becoming mothers while still children, and more are gaining the skills they need to excel in the future world of work. Girls are breaking boundaries and barriers posed by stereotypes and exclusion, including those directed at children with disabilities and those living in marginalized communities. As entrepreneurs, innovators and initiators of global movements, girls are leading and fostering a world that is relevant for them and future generations… Let’s work to reinforce girls’ rights to a safe childhood, to decide for themselves, and to education and skills – in short, their right to the future they want.

A Platform of Action was drawn up with nine points related to advancing girls’ rights:

• Eliminate all forms of discrimination against girls
• Eliminate negative cultural attitudes and practices against girls.
• Promote and protect the rights of girls and increase awareness of their needs and potential.
• Eliminate discrimination against girls in education, skills development and training.
• Eliminate discrimination against girls in health and nutrition.
• Eliminate the economic exploitation of child labour and protect young girls at work.
• Eradicate violence against girls.
• Promote girls awareness of and participation in social, economic and political life.
• Strengthen the role of the family in improving the status of girls.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 calls for gender equality and empowerment of women and girls everywhere in the world by 2030. To achieve this, input and participation from girls themselves are essential. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), working alongside other organizations will produce programming, advocacy, communication, fundraising, and public engagement elevating progress for, and with, girls.

Thailand leading the way

TU students may be aware of the Center for Girls, working in northern Thailand to prevent human trafficking, gender-based violence, and child abuse. As its website states, its vision is

Empowering Women and Children

We envision a world where women and children are safe to live their lives in equality, with dignity and humanity.

The organization’s mission:

Center for Girls’ mission is to work within the Chiang Rai Province to empower women and children, reduce instances of gender-based violence (GBV), and educate the populace about human trafficking issues… We are committed to creating sustainable participatory projects that equip people in the surrounding communities with the necessary life skills to become independent leaders who strive towards human rights for all, regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or socioeconomic status.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)