International Day of the Girl Child,11 October 2019 Agents for change: Girls take up the fight for a better world

GENEVA (10 October 2019) – On the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child, UN human rights experts* have applauded the energy and sense of urgency, as well as courage and intellect, that girls and young women have brought to recognizing and confronting many of today’s struggles from climate change and gender equality to poverty and violence. In a joint statement the experts say adolescent girls need to be supported by everyone who cares about human rights and a sustainable future.

“Youth activism, spearheaded by girls, has brought fresh energy and a renewed sense of urgency to tackling issues fought by generations before them. They have shown that no one is too young to act for human rights, and no one is too small to make a difference. These young human rights defenders are initiating, joining and spearheading movements with insistence and courage, confronting backlashes and attacks.

These girls and young women are increasingly being recognized. Malala Yousafzai became the youngest Noble Prize laureate at the age of 17 in recognition of her fight for girls’ right to education, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg was this year invited to address world leaders at the global climate summit, and Autumn Peltier, the 13-year-old indigenous girl has been nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize. There are many others who are actively engaged for social justice. They should be supported by everyone who cares for human rights and sustainable future. Different generations need to join forces in pursuit of social justice.

It is deeply troubling that some of these brave girls and young women have been subjected to harassment and abuse and sometimes hateful attacks on social media. Attacks on young human rights defenders should not be tolerated. States have obligations to ensure enjoyment of rights by girls and boys, including their right to privacy, freedom of thought, expression and association.

Thirty years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 25 years after the Beijing World Conference on Women, and after 40 years of implementing the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, we are starting to see notable progress in the area of the rights of the girl child. However, the cycle of girls’ disadvantaged situation proves difficult to break in many places, where many girls continue to be considered inferior, neglected and subjected to harmful stereotypes, forced into marriages and contemporary forms of slavery, subjected to violence in the family and schools, deprived of educational opportunities and their sexual and reproductive rights.

And yet despite their generally disadvantaged position, girls and young women are at the forefront of critical struggles of our time, characterised by political, socio-economic and environmental crises. They are engaged in a range of issues, demanding an end to gender-based violence, gun violence, and fundamentalism and extremism, and insist on implementation of the right to education, sexual and reproductive rights, and economic and political empowerment. They fight for environmental justice, the rights to water and sanitation, the rights of the indigenous peoples, minorities, migrants, and LGBT persons. They are not only standing up against the backlash but also demanding accountability and proposing new solutions for a different world, often employing innovative and creative methods. They are acting as agents of change in public life.

Today as the international community commemorates this international day for the 7th year, we celebrate girls for their achievements and their social activism. Adolescent girls, standing at the forefront of many of today’s struggles, have demonstrated their unique power to mobilize and to lead. They are demanding full protection of their human rights to a safe and sustainable planet and their voices to be heard. We call upon States to take every step to fulfil their human rights obligations and national and international policy makers to hear their voices loud and clear.”

ENDS

(*) UN experts: Ms. Elizabeth Broderick, Ms. Alda Facio, Ms. Ivana RadačIć, Ms. Meskerem Geset Techane (Chair), Ms. Melissa Upreti, Working Group on  discrimination against women and girls; Ms. Karima Bennoune, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights; Ms. Koumbou Boly Barry, Special Rapporteur on the right to education; Mr. David. R. Boyd, Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment; Mr. David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Mr. Dainius Pūras, Special Rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health; Mr. Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Mr. Felipe Gonzalez Morales, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; Mr. Fernand De Varennes, Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Mr. Joseph Cannataci, Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy; Ms. Maud De Boer-Buquicchio, Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children; Ms. Urmila Bhoola, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; Mr. Victor Madrigal-Borloz, Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; Ms. Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Ms. Dubravka Šimonović, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences; Mr. Léo Heller, Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.

The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

For more information and media requests, please contact: Hannah Wu (+ 41 22 917 9152 /hwu@ohchr.org or wgdiscriminationwomen@ohchr.org)

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact:
Mr. Jeremy Laurence, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.org)

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