It is inevitable that women business heads and entrepreneurs come to mind as we step into the International Day of the Girl Child 2018.
The International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated every year on 11th October. It is a day to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges they face around the world. The main aims of the day is to promote girl’s empowerment and fulfilment of their human rights. Observance of the day seeks to increase awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender. It also supports opening up more opportunity for girls.
Each year’s International Day of the Girl has its own theme. Past themes have included EmPower Girls: Before, During and After Crisis (2017) and Girls Progress = Goals Progress: What Counts For Girls (2016). Launched in 2012 by the United Nations general assembly, amongst the issues focused on by the International Day of the Girl Child are – education, equality, child marriage, access to services regarding puberty and sexual health and addressing issues around gender-based violence.
Under the theme this year which is : With Her: A Skilled GirlForce, International Day of the Girl marks the beginning of a year-long effort to bring together partners and stakeholders to highlight, advocate and invest in girls’ most pressing needs and opportunities to attain skills for employability.
Today’s generation of girls are preparing to enter a world of work that is being transformed by innovation, technology and automation. On International Day of the Girl, the effort should be to help girls expand their existing learning opportunities, so that they can charter new pathways. The global community should rethink how to prepare them for a successful transition into the world of work.
Over the past few years, India has record growth in the area of women entrepreneurship and it is seen that more women are pursuing their career in this direction. The reasons for the rise of women entrepreneurs are many like: overall changing perception of entrepreneurship, better access to education, increasing social acceptance of women entrepreneurship, better infrastructure, especially in technology, better access to finance and rise of role models.
So, on International Day of the Girl, let’s stand with her – the future entrepreneur, teacher, scientist, freelancer and software engineer – to develop skills now and remove any other gender barrier she faces.
Cheers to the woman entrepreneurs, who are about to step into their new roles as business heads and owners. May their community grow in leaps and bounds.
Avtar Madan
Himanshu
Shree Lahiri
Poonam Sinha
