International Day of the Girl Child Date in the current year: October 11, 2024

This international awareness day was inspired by the Because I Am a Girl campaign. The campaign was launched by the international aid organization Plan in order to address the issue of gender discrimination and promote rights of girls across the world.

International Day of the Girl Child focuses on promoting girls' empowerment and highlighting the unique challenges girls face around the world. The issues addressed on the occasion include (but are not limited to) unfree child marriage, teenage pregnancy, violence, discrimination, gender inequality etc. In many countries, girls have limited access to education, medical care, legal aid.

Each year, the United Nations selects a new theme for the day. For example, the first theme was “Ending Child Marriage”. All participants are encouraged to link events they organize to the current year's theme. International Day of the Girl Child events and activities are held by governments of Member States, the UN system, NGOs, and civil society.