Celebrating International Day of the Girl 2022

By Morgyn Engman

October 11th marks the 10th anniversary of International Day of the Girl Child, established by the United Nations. It was started with the goal of bringing more awareness to the different challenges that are faced by girls around the world. Some of the inequalities that the United Nations set out to address with the Day are access to education, nutrition, legal rights, discrimination, violence against women, medical care, and forced child marriage. They also strive to have girls and women be included and able to fully participate in decisions that impact them. International Day of the Girl also stems from a commitment to the United Nations Millennium Development Goal for “empowerment and investment in girls”  (Wikipedia, 2022). 

The History of International Day of the Girl 

Plan International was the main inspiration and champion for the observance. The Plan International Canada and Rona Ambrose, former Minister for the Status of Women were the ones that fought for the cause (Wikipedia, 2022). Plan International continues to celebrate and contribute to ending gender disparity. The recognition of the day has spread to many organizations big and small, with thousands of events across the world celebrating girls. The celebration has also jump started other commitments from governments to work towards gender equality.

10 Ways To Celebrate for 10 Years of International Day of the Girl 

• Talk about Girl Power with people in your life 
• Move with your friends 
• Share with #internationaldayofthegirl and #fastandfemale on social media
• Share women influencers on social media 
• Watch women’s sports  
• Learn more about the day from Plan International 
• Read a book by a woman author
• Listen to a Podcast by Women  
• Check out our resources 
• Donate to Fast and Female to support our mission of keeping self-identified girls healthy and active in sport and physical activity!