Together, the world gathers for International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March to applaud women’s achievements and reaffirm a dedication to women’s rights and equality. It offers a chance to ponder on advances made, push for reform, and honour acts of courage by women who played a significant role in the evolution and shaping of their country.
“Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow” is the theme of IWD, 2022. The IWD logo is a coiled, arrowed ring with the feminine gender sign at the centre.
To mark the celebration of the International day on Women and Girls in Science YUVA District of Pamplemousses is holding a talk and discussion session at International College of Triolet on the 11th of February 2016 from 10:30 to 11:30.
Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are both vital for economic development of world. Since science and gender equality are partners in the achievement of developmental goals internationally, YUVA District of Pamplemousses is organising a dialogue session to mark the celebration of the International Day on Women and Girls in Science 2016.
This dialogue session aims at not only inspiring and engaging girls and women in science but also to promote their participation in education and training in the field on science and at the same time promoting equal access of women and girls to employment in the field of science and technology. Our vision behind is to have full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, and further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. At the same time this dialogue session aims at raising public awareness on employment and decision-making processes in the sciences and contributing in the elimination all discrimination against women and girls.
The dialogue session targets youngster aged 15 to 18 and will be held on 11 February 2016. The session shall be done in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender Equality, child Development and Family Welfare.
In order to achieve gender equality sensitization of youngsters is also important. It is crucial to promote career development for women in science and recognize the achievements of women in science to achieve sustainable development.
”Women Empowerment and bring in the limelight the status of women in science. My aim is also to sensitize our youngster especially girls on the achievements of women and girls in the field of Science and also to sensitize them on their roles , participation and contribution in society.” – Pooja Bhatoo, Project Leader
My name is Jana Huwyler, I am 21 years old and I am from Switzerland. I study law in the second year at the University of Berne. For my internship abroad, I wanted to do something with rights, to gain an insight into an other law system. In Switzerland the equality of woman and men is pretty much given. So I found it important to help improving the woman rights in a country where the equality isn’t very advanced so far.
Feminism has been considered a “dirty” word the past 10-15 years. But as I learned lately at a lecture of the lions club: To be a feminist means just the radical notion that women are people – the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. I find it very wrong and frightening that this is not the normality. The sad truth of the matter is that we start off with men as the standard, as the norm. We have to teach our boys the rules of equality and respect, so that as they grow up, gender equality becomes a natural way of life. And we have to teach our girls that they can reach as high as humanly possible.
I belief that, among other things, the women empowerment starts in the social empowerment. Within the Goal 5: ”Gender Equality” of YUVA Sustainable Development Goals and the Target 2: ”Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation”, I hope to make a positive contribution. In my opinion the source of inequality is at home by raising the boys and girls differently. We do a great disservice to boys in how we raise them. We define masculinity in a very narrow way. We teach boys to be afraid of fear, of weakness, of vulnerability. We teach them to be a hard man. We say to girls: You can’t have too much ambition and shouldn’t be too successful, otherwise you will threaten the man. If you are the breadwinner in your relationship with a man, pretend that you are not, especially in public, otherwise you will emasculate him. Because of our wrong education, girls are not being of equal worth as men.
Changing the status quo is always uncomfortable. Therefore it is even more important to make a change within the framework of our provided possibilities. But for now, I want to contribute my part. Like Emma Watson said at her speech back in september 2014 at an event for the HeForShe campaign: ”If not me, who? If not now when?”.
Today is not your typical Sunday; it’s International Day of the Girl Child. While the very well-known International Women’s Day started over 100 years ago in 1909, the International Day of the Girl Child is fairly new—only four years old. Yet it’s goal is a powerful one: In December 2011, the United Nations declared October 11 as a day to “recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.”
“Empowerment of and investment in girls are key in breaking the cycle of discrimination and violence and in promoting and protecting the full and effective enjoyment of their human rights”
-United Nations Resolution 66/170
The U.N. selects a different theme to focus on every year, and 2015’s theme is “The Power of the Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030.” The idea is that girls going through adolescence now can start to help make a change, and plan for a better world for girls born now who will be adolescents in 15 years. The day itself is a time to focus on how to help 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,” says the U.N. “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.”
The Day of the Girl is a response to an urgent problem facing our world today: the neglect and devaluation of girls around the world. On October 11 of every year, we see dynamic groups across the world (led by girls, of course) acting to highlight, discuss, celebrate and ultimately advance girls’ lives and opportunities across the globe. When girls come together to talk about what really matters to us, we can teach ourselves and other people–adults, boys, and other girls all across the world–new ways of thinking about gender issues, which will help us take action to change the status quo.
October 11 is not just a day; it’s a movement. A worldwide revolution.
The Day of the Girl is bigger than one issue, one organization, one country, and even the day itself. It is a yearly reflection of what we’ve done and what we need to keep doing to fully achieve gender equality everywhere.
Beautiful little girls during the Children Empowerment Program, organised by YUVA District Rivière du Rempart. (Photo: YUVA/Luckkana Ghaneswarsing)
Why a Day for Girls? Here’s a dozen reasons.
As girls, we experience inequality in every aspect of our lives. There are a billion reasons why we need the Day of the Girl, but let’s start with just a dozen (all are linked to their source):
YUVA works in a way where girls not only advocate for themselves but for others as well. Teaching girls to lead allows them to be part of the solution. (Photo: YUVA/Luckkana Ghaneswarsing)
The newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer an opportunity for a global commitment to breaking intergenerational transmission of poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination – and realizing our vision of a life of dignity for all, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon declared, marking the International Day of the Girl Child.
“Our task now is to get to work on meeting the SDG targets and making good on our promises to give girls all the opportunities they deserve as they mature to adulthood by 2030,” said Mr. Ban in his message on the Day, referring to the newly–adopted 2030 Agenda and its landmark 17 Global Goals.
That means enabling them to avoid child marriage and unwanted pregnancy, protect against HIV transmission, stay safe from female genital mutilation, and acquire the education and skills they need to realize their potential.
“It also requires ensuring their sexual health and reproductive rights. Girls everywhere should be able to lead lives free from fear and violence. If we achieve this progress for girls, we will see advances across society,” continued the UN chief.
The Secretary-general recalled that just after the adoption last month of the Global Goals for, world leaders heard a ringing call from Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was flanked in the General Assembly Hall by young people from around the world. ‘Promise us that you will keep your commitments and invest in our future,’ she urged.
“Three years ago, on the International Day of the Girl Child, I condemned the attack against Malala and called for more opportunities for girls everywhere. Today, I applaud her courage and that of her peers, who only want the chance to contribute to our world,” said the Secretary-General.
“Let us resolve to invest in today’s adolescent girls so that tomorrow they can stand strong as citizens, political leaders, entrepreneurs, heads of their households and more. This will secure their rights and our common future,” he declared.
In her remarks UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said the cadre of 15-year-old girls living today were born at the advent of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) into a world of hope. Not all of those hopes were fulfilled. Many have already dropped out of school to look after family members or take informal work to help support the family.
“More than 250 million of our 15-year-olds are already married, too many are facing the likelihood of HIV infection, especially given the high unmet needs for family planning…and every 10 minutes somewhere in the world, an adolescent girl dies by violent means,” she said, adding that: “These, and the generations that follow them, are the young women for whom we are working so hard.”
Educate girls, change the world. (Photo: YUVA/Luckkana Ghaneswarsing)
