We won’t stop until every girl is equally seen, heard and valued

Because it is the International Day of the Girl in exactly four weeks from now, we are returning, this year digitally, with our Girls’ Rights Gazette. As of 2012 this publication is bringing girls’ voices to the fore: their stories, their realities and their views on the current state of girls’ rights in the world today. This year’s gazette will include stories by our young activists and advocates who will be joining our Global Girls’ Summit in Brussels on 10th October. They will give insight into their commitment to gender equality and girls’ rights and the different initiatives they are carrying out in their respective countries and regions. You will be able to see how the different Plan International projects work together with girls and young women, to make their cities safer, to ensure education in emergency settings and to become champions of change. There will be photos in each issue of the Gazette taken by the youth involved in the BruxELLES project capturing sexual harassment in public spaces in Brussels. As in past editions, EU leaders and influencers will share their visions on how, in their respective roles, they try to put girls at the forefront of EU external policies and actions. And how they play their part in making sure that every girl can learn, lead, decide and thrive.

For Plan International, the International Day of the Girl and the Girls’ Rights Gazette are all about displaying girls’ power and potential. That reflects our mission to ensure that girls are central tothe social and political changes needed to remove the barriers that hold girls back.

To celebrate the International Day of the Girl, we are again organising the European Week of Action for Girls (EWAG), together with our partners. The week will bring together youth from a coalition of civil society organisations to call upon EU leaders to “VOTE for GIRLS”. Through a packed programme of events and activities they will raise awareness on what matters most to them, such as ending all forms of discrimination and violence, ensuring their economic empowerment and right to education, as well as enabling their civic and  political empowerment and their participation in decisions that concern them.

Our research reveals that girls still face discrimination and violence despite international agreements, laws, policies and global targets put into place to advance change. Just as past edition of the Girls’ Rights Gazette have inspired me, I hope that the upcoming issues will inspire you to contribute to working with and for girls so that they can all learn, lead, decide and thrive.

We won’t stop until every girl is equally seen, heard and valued.

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