Highlighting the role of girls sheatwork puts the spotlight on – ‘empower girls’, for they are leaders of tomorrow!
Today – October 11 has been ear-marked as the International Day of the Girl, since 2012.
What is the significance of this day? The objective is to focus on and address the needs and challenges girls face. At the same time, this day promotes girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.
On the International Day of the Girl, let’s celebrate the potential of every young woman to be a powerful voice in her community.
Interestingly, the International Day of the Girl Billboard in Times Square, New York had the visual of the globe with the catchy hashtag: #GirlsBelongHere.
The female gender is gaining importance in almost all major spheres of life. The world of sports has seen a major transformation. We saw PV Sindhu creating history, when at the 2016 Summer Olympics, she became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal. Then in September 2017, she won the Superseries title in Korea. And, rightly so, she feels after cricket, badminton has got its due recognition as more people are playing this game.
Then in cricket too, women came into the forefront – with the Indian Women’s team walking away with the World Cup. And, as a result, interest in women’s cricket has seen a major surge and research reveals that the ICC shows the impact this summer’s Womens Cricket World Cup has had on fans. As many as 92% of sports fans in India believe they had seen an increase in media coverage of women’s cricket in the last two years. Across the five key markets surveyed, 65% of sports fans were aware that the ICC Women’s World Cup took place, which included a whopping 94% from India and 67% from tournament host England and Wales.
In politics we saw Nirmala Sitharaman take on the mantle of Defence Minister of India, making her the second woman to take on this role (after a brief stint earlier by Indian’s ex-PM the late Srimati Indira Gandhi). Then Madam Smriti Irani, the current Information and Broadcasting and Textiles Minister in the Government of India has been making news since she took up office.
In the workplace too, the woman employee has been rearing her head. The new mindset is changing the workplace environment and new rules are being re-imagined. Citibank doled out gifts to new mothers, and now offers childcare allowances. Other companies such as Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Hindustan Unilever run their own creches or have tie-ups with creche providers. The the question of menstrual leave has come up. It is prevalent in many countries – an attempt to synchronise work with women’s natural bodily cycles. Companies like Nike introduced menstrual leave in their code of conduct worldwide in 2007. Countries like Japan, Taiwan, China, Indonesian and South Korea have the concept of menstrual leave in place, by and large.
Indeed, we have come a long way in terms of gender equality. But, reality still is that the number of women in positions of power remain low. However, the road ahead looks bright!
The slogan – “Empower girls”, is indeed flying high. The world’s 1.1 billion girls are a source of power, energy and creativity. This year’s International Day of the Girl (IDG) marks the beginning of a year-long effort to spur global attention and action to the challenges and opportunities girls face before, during, and after crises.
So, on this auspicious day, do join us in wishing every girl a bright future.
Avtar Madan
Poonam Sinha
Ruby Sinha
