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The focus of the 2025 International Day of the Girl is “The girl I am, the change I lead: Girls on the frontlines of crisis.”
On Oct. 11, the United Nations calls for leaders to stand with girls and support their leadership at home and around the world.
Share girls’ stories. Celebrate their achievements and amplify their voices.
Advocate for change. Call for policies that protect girls’ rights and enable their leadership –now and in the future.
Create girl-led spaces. Wherever you have influence, support safe spaces where girls can connect, learn, and get the support they need.
Lend your voice. Call for dedicated funding and programs that meet the unique needs of girls in crisis situations — including health, education, mental well-being, and support for adolescent mothers.
— The United Nations
Access to primary and secondary education remains limited for too many girls in too many places. The quality of education also remains a challenge here and abroad.
We’ve got to get more girls in school with access to a high-quality education that leads to a meaningful career and family-sustaining living wages.
But I want more for our girls.
I want space for them to be brave. I want space for them to take risk.
They are not going to innovate and lead without both.
From PAGE in North Carolina…
Here in North Carolina, the International Day of the Girl offers us the opportunity to celebrate the Partnership for Appalachian Girls’ Education (PAGE), whose mission is “to educate and empower girls so they can become leaders in an ever evolving Appalachia.” EdNC has been reporting on the leadership of PAGE for 10 years.
…to the Center for Human Development in Kenya
This day also offers us the opportunity to celebrate organizations working to support girls around the world.
Located near Amboseli National Park near Mount Kilimanjaro, Conservation Kenya’s Center for Human Development was founded in 2012 by Dr. Winnie Kiiru.
The center is a “dynamic grassroots organization dedicated to the revitalization of the Amboseli Ecosystem through community-centered conservation endeavors,” according to the website, paying particular attention to the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and girls.
In my time at the Center in November 2024, we met with local girls, their moms, and the chief of the Maasai. We planted trees and learned how to bead. We visited the greenhouse and learning center.
But most importantly, we talked about the importance of owning our voices and telling our stories.
The girls said the Center has helped them figure out how to take a stand on female genital mutilation, early marriage, and teenage pregnancy in their own lives.
One of the young leaders said, “Because of Conservation Kenya, now we are safe.”
She aspires to be a doctor to help others.
The history of the International Day of the Girl
In 1995, at the World Conference on Women in Beijing, countries unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the blueprint for advancing the rights of girls and women.
On Dec. 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, recognizing girls’ rights and the challenges girls face around the world.
The International Day of the Girl Child continues to focus attention on the need to address those challenges and to promote girls’ empowerment, according to the United Nations.
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