The International Day of the Girl is celebrated annually on October 11th, this year the focus is on celebrating girls in digital generation through the theme, ‘Digital Generation. Our Generation.’
The occasion marks the importance of adolescent girl children and attempts at identifying their power and potential by opening opportunities for them. It also aims to amplify and empower the voices of adolescent girls around the globe.
Through observing this day, an attempt is made to talk about and eradicate the issues concerning adolescent girl children. Throughout the world, girls face gender-based challenges such as child marriage, discrimination, violence, and poor learning opportunities.
In a statement, the United Nations population Fund (UNFPA) Papua New Guinea states: “Girls are harnessing the power of new technologies to carve out a better future for all, and as we celebrate them, we must also call urgent attention to those left behind by gender discrimination that systematically limits girls, now and across their lifetimes.
“These inequalities extend to the Internet, which girls still use less than boys – up to four times less in some countries. This digital divide compounds longstanding gender disparities.”
UNFPA said girls are born with power and every girl has within her possibilities that should flourish as she moves into adulthood, shaping her future and the world.
“We see examples of this everywhere, in the girls at the vanguard of movements calling for climate justice, universal education and more. The transformative imprint of incredible women – those whose potential was fulfilled – is visible everywhere, from legislation to life-saving vaccines to the frontiers of technology.”
“But there are so many girls in the world whose inherent power is unrealized. Their rights are denied, choices and chance to thrive are undermined. As a result, we all miss out on what these girls could achieve, on the gifts their vision, ingenuity and passion could offer the world.”
UNFPA PNG said the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how quickly inequalities can multiply, under school closures, girls who lack Internet access have seen losses in education, health information and care.
“In many places, girls denied an education face an increased risk of being married off against their will. The realization of many rights is predicated on digital access, which can help girls find information, connect with peers, build social movements, explore their identities, track their periods and find help for harassment or violence.”
UNFPA said without such access, girls face major barriers to achieving their sexual and reproductive health and rights and bodily autonomy.
Digital technologies have their downsides. Girls with access to these technologies face mounting risks from various forms of cyber violence. Access for girls with disabilities remains insufficient, and local language availability is far too limited.
“We must not tolerate a digital world that reinforces inequality. Instead, let us use these tools to close the gender power gap for girls. We can do this through projects like Mandukhai, a new chatbot developed by UNFPA to reach Mongolian adolescents with accurate sexual and reproductive health information.”
“Let’s apply these technologies to help girls achieve their rights and secure their bodily autonomy. This is what happened when a young woman in India used the information provided by a UNFPA-supported mobile ‘edutainment’ service to save a friend from child marriage.”
UNFPA has teamed up with private sector partners in a number of countries to provide the mentorship and resources girls need to design innovative digital solutions for an equal future.
“Together, let’s create a digital world that is accessible and safe for all, and build a future in which every girl is able to realize her full potential and power.”