In 2022, we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl (IDG). In these last 10 years, there has been increased attention on issues that matter to girls amongst governments, policymakers and the general public, and more opportunities for girls to have their voices heard on the global stage.
The International Day of the Girl focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights. 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.
It’s so important for us to keep supporting the grassroots leaders and organizations that are helping girls learn while staying healthy and safe. SousSHE is a program that empowers young black women and encourage their continuous development through projects in entrepreneurship, culinary and artistic ventures.
Empowering women and girls and promoting gender equality is crucial to accelerating sustainable development. Ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls is not only a basic human right, but it also has a multiplier effect across all other development areas. Our goal is to raise awareness, provide needed resources and collaborate with individuals and organizations that advocate for black girls & young black women.
Two years ago the Obama Foundation started the Girls Opportunity Alliance to empower adolescent girls through education—and since then, they’ve rallied people all around the world to help so many girls through projects spanning 15 countries.
This work matters to me more than ever. These past months have been an anxious and difficult time for all young people, and for millions of girls around the world the question isn’t when they will return to school, or if they can manage it virtually—it’s if they’ll ever return at all. And that’s heartbreaking. Our world just can’t afford to miss out on their talents and their ideas.
Michelle Obama
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.
We refuse to be average, especially when our impulse is to soar …
SousSHE
When we invest in girls’ education, it doesn’t just benefit them—it benefits all of us. An educated girl can lift up her family, her community, and her country. When girls get the opportunities they deserve, amazing things start to happen. Poverty goes down, economies grow, families get stronger, babies are born healthier, and the world, by all accounts, gets better.
Give girls an opportunity to lead by putting them in the forefront of change efforts; hearing their voices; responding to their asks; and welcoming them in decision-making spaces – it is one of the ways to invest in a future that believes in girls’ agency. An investment in realizing the power of 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.
“All she wanted to do was see a reflection of herself”
Clifton Henri
I hope you’ll support our initiatives by visiting, Give to SousSHE and contributing to this work in honor of a girl in your life today. Your support will make such a difference for these girls and their futures—and it’ll help create a better world for all of us.
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