International Day Of The Girl Child Focuses On Adolescent Girls, Presents Sustainable Development Goals (TWEETS)

The United Nations International Day of the Girl Child this year was aimed mainly to girls undergoing adolescence. The U.N. also presented its Sustainable Development Goals, comprised of a number of international objectives for gender equality laid out over a 15-year-plan.

"Our task now is to get to work on meeting the SDG targets and making good on our promises to give girls all the opportunities they deserve as they mature to adulthood by 2030," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said, according to UN Women.

Girls going through adolescence worldwide are facing social, economic and political issues. These girls who can someday change the course of history can be affected by external factors during their maturity such as, untimely pregnancies, child marriage and violence. Depending on the access for the young girls, they can also be faced with constrained opportunities for education and reliable reproductive health assistance.

In its fourth year, Oct.11 - declared the International Day of the Girl Child - is the day to promote awareness regarding girls' rights and other issues such as child marriage. The number of girls getting married at a young age have risen significantly according to the Girls not Brides organization. The group added that the numbers increase during natural or man-made calamities. Girls not Brides aims to call the attention of governments all over the world to put up plans and laws to implement an end to child marriage, according to Voice of America.

There are over 250 million 15-year-old girls who are already married, and there are a lot could catch an HIV infection without being equipped with the right kind of knowledge," Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka for the U.N. said. The project aims to give these young women a better future, New Kerala reported.

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United Nations, Child marriage, UN, U.N.