Last week during the European Week of Action for Girls 2016, girls showed EU leaders that they have what it takes to take over. During several digital and physical takeovers of EU leaders' positions, girls called on the EU to pay more attention to their situation and secure more invetmsents in ensuring their rights and empowerment.
#GirlsVoices: A social Media takeover
On Thursday 13 October, Radha, Petrider, Flavia and Rixt took over the social media channels of the European Commission's Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development (@Europeaid). They talked about gender-based violence, child marriage, the need to educate and empower girls and called on the EU to secure more and better investments in girls' rights and empowerment.
See a selection of social media posts from the Takeover.
On this occasion, two of the girls (Radha and Rixt) had the opportunity to meet with European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica. During a fruitful exchange, the girls told the Commissioner why they think that girls all over the world deserve more attention and explained how THEY are fighting for gender equality in their own countries. "I salute the courage of all girls in their fight for gender equality around the globe," the Commissioner stated.
#GirlsTakeover: When Radha took over the EU
On Friday 14 October, Radha, 21, from Bangladesh took over the positions of two EU leaders: Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Budgets and Human Resources; and Amb. Mara Marinaki, Principal Adviser on Gender for the European External Action Service (EEAS).
The photos and videos below show how Radha took over the EU for a day:
A message from Vice-President Kristalina Georgieva, on why she decided to take part in the #GirlsTakeover.
Read her blog, and watch the video:
Radha even took over the Vice-President's Twitter account, spreading her views about child marriage and girls' rights in Bangladesh.
She called on her followers to never let girls become invisible, and to enable them to raise their voice.
See what she posted on Twitter.
Later that day, Radha took over the position of Amb. Mara Marinaki, Principal Adviser on Gender to the European External Action Service.
Thanks to Plan International, girls stepped into the shoes of leaders in over 50 countries for the International Day of the Girl. Explore and support the #GirlsTakeover action worldwide.