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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
17 year old Malala Yousafzai becomes youngest recipient to receive a Nobel Peace Prize, and could very well be this year's poster girl for International Day of the Girl Child (Photo by Oli Scarffoli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images)
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In 2012 the U.N.declared October 11th as the International Day of the Girl Child to raise awareness about all issues concerning gender inequality around the world. More than anything this day promotes girls’ human rights, and highlights gender inequalities that remain between girls and boys. It also addresses the various forms of discrimination and abuse suffered by girls 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
Statistics are staggering…14 million girls become child brides every year. 140 million girls a year are affected by sexual violence.
Yesterday, the Nobel Peace Prize was given to two people, one of whom is a 17 year old girl, the youngest ever. Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani child education activist who was shot in the head by the Taliban put aside the word / notion ‘victim’ and went on do great things. She is considered the most famous teenager in the world and could well be the poster girl for this year’s International Day of the Girl Child.
Canada Prime Minister Harper announced today, “Yesterday, I was very pleased to congratulate Malala Yousafzai who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on children’s rights. Malala is the youngest ever recipient of the Peace Prize, and I look forward to her visit later this month.” Yousafzai will be made an Honourary Canadian Citizen in Ottawa on October 22nd, 2014 being the 6th person only to carry this honour. She joins the ranks of Raoul Wallenberg, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi and the Aga Khan.
The second Peace Prize winner yesterday was Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian child rights campaigner, and another person helping with the plight of girls.
This year’s International Day of the Girl Child’s theme is: “Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence.” Adolescents is the key time when girls are most abused. “Every ten minutes an adolescent dies in the world due to violence,” said UNICEF.
“On this International Day of the Girl Child, let us remember one fundamental tenet: Girls and women, everywhere, deserve equal opportunities to succeed and thrive,” said Harper. This is our fundamental right!
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