International Day of the Girl 2016

My girls! I love them to bits. They are my daughters, my friends, my world and I'll do whatever I can to support, encourage and  help them become amazing young women.

They have a lot. A lot of love, a lot of friends, a lot of stuff (although they probably don't think so), and a lot of opportunities. As girls living in UK in the 21st Century, the world is their oyster, but not all girls have the opportunities that they do.



Today is International Day of the Girl and the theme for this year is 'Girl's Progress = Goals' Progress: A Global Girl Data Movement. I'm not going to start writing all about collecting and analysing data etc, because I wouldn't be able to do it justice, so what I am going to do is ask you to click here to visit the UN Women site for all the information.

However, it really has got me thinking, just how lucky our girls are. Yes they may face some level of discrimination due to their gender; perhaps they will be paid less than their male counterparts, it's not right, but they are unlikely to be denied civil rights etc.

Our daughters, may not always enjoy school, but they have access to a good education and many of them will progress to university. They can become anything they want, hairdressers, plumbers, dancers, electricians, nurses builders. Education is important and is the key to opening up all those opportunities. Imagine, not being able to read or write, just because you were born a girl. Many girls around the world don't get the opportunity to go to school, simply because they are girls. They are not considered as important as boys, many are forced into marriage, again please do visit the UN Women site as this issue is contained within their article. Today, my youngest daughter is 11 years old, in some countries  she could be getting married. How horrific is that thought? How terrifying for a young girl, a child, to find herself in that situation. It really doesn't bear thinking about. Thankfully in the UK we don't have to worry about it.

I am thankful, that my girls live in a society where they can achieve their full potential regardless of their gender and I am thankful that there are organisations that are standing up for the rights of girls worldwide.

Please do head over to UN Women to learn more about their work.