International Day of the Girl Child 2018 is being observed today i.e. 11th October 2018 across the globe and puts the spotlight on enhancing skillset of girls so they enter the future workforce on equal terms as their male counterparts.
(News18) To raise awareness of the issues and challenges that girls are vulnerable to worldwide, the United Nations declared 11th October as the International Day of the Girl Child in December 2011. The first International Day of the Girl Child was observed on 11th October 2012 and ever since, the campaign has highlighted girl issues pertaining to the real life world and find answers to address these challenges.
The theme of International Day of the Girl Child 2018 is ‘A Skilled Girlforce’, which lays emphasis on education and skill enhancement required for the girl child today so that she enters the workforce fully skilled, up-to-date with the technology and digitalization, a decade from now.
As per United Nations, out of a 1 billion young people globally, 60% adolescent girls will be ready to embark their careers and join the workforce in the next 10 years. However, a whopping 90% of these children living in developing countries will have to work in the informal sector due to lack of employability in the technologically advanced future.
The informal sector makes the female workforce vulnerable to low pay parity, exploitation of labor and workplace harassment/abuse. The idea is to draw attention of all stakeholders, the global organizations and community to come together and address investment needs and opportunities for the girl child to pave way for their smooth transition to a happy and fulfilled work life!
