Out of adversity—creativity, resilience, and courage are born. We believe this is especially true of every girl and woman in India who has ever faced gender discrimination and emerged stronger. Millions of people are celebrating girls today, and we wanted to share how our friends in India are joining in!

108 girls and 72 of their parents gathered today to celebrate the 10th annual International Day of the Girl Child in their community in South India.

We were able to share about the increase in the number of crimes against girls and women in India: everything from incidents where parents or relatives of a newborn girl throw away the child in a dumpster to the prevalence of forced underage marriage. The participants of this training pledged to spread awareness of these instances of gender discrimination in their neighborhoods and communities.

12 girls received prizes for their creative drawings celebrating Day of the Girl. This girl’s beautiful poster says:

“The observation [of International Day of the Girl] supports more opportunity for girls and increases awareness of gender inequality faced worldwide based upon their gender. The inequality includes areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, protection from discrimination, violence against women, and forced child marriage. The celebration of the day also reflects the successful emergence of girls and young women as a distinct cohort in development policy, programming, campaigning, and research.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Want to invest in girls’ lives?
✨ Share stories, blogs, or videos that highlight or educate on gender inequality
✨ Get involved with government officials/policymakers
✨ Engage female influencers
✨ Use your sphere of influence to raise awareness