THE GIRL CHILD
The International Day of the Girl Child 2022
“Our time is now-our rights, our future”
The girl child is a young female who will eventually grow into womanhood. Women and girls makeup half of the world’s population and, therefore, need to be empowered to contribute meaningfully to self and economic growth.
‘The International Day of the Girl Child focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights.’-United Nations.
What to know about the girl child:
• She is a beautiful creature
• An intelligent being
• A nation builder
• A future mother
• A responsible and caring person
• A multi-talented and multi-tasking individual
• A family support system
• A home-maker in the making
• A cheerful giver of her time and resources
• The joy of the family and society at large.
What does the girl child need?
• Quality education (The most important gift you can bequeath the girl child is quality education. The girl child ought to be empowered through education in order to contribute meaningfully to the development of her people and have global relevance)
• An enabling environment devoid of hostility and abuse (domestic or sexual).
• Gender equality and empowerment
• Right to health
• Right to life.
Improper education of the girl-child and women is characterized by low self-esteem, health issues, insecurity, lack of confidence and national development.
Today, it is so clear that the difference between the developed and underdeveloped countries of the world is related to the level of literacy, especially the female populace.
Statistics show that many girls are not enrolled in school. The global figure for out of school children is estimated at 121 million, 65 million are girls with over 80 percent of these girls in sub-Sahara Africa including Nigeria (UNICEF, 2017).
The clamour of globalization has informed the world, that girl child education is paramount to nation building. Women empowerment is thus, a necessity. More so, educational empowerment is the best form of empowerment that can ease all other forms of empowerment. The turn of the new millennium has altered the focus of nation-building, to include women and this can only be attained if such women are literate enough.
We should all realize that the future of Nigeria lies with both her men and women working together in partnership. Nigerian women should be prepared for the opportunity to lead and to give their best to the development of the nation. And the Nigerian government should wake up to their responsibility of nation building by giving women their right share of quality education, power and opportunities. That women might have the chance of a healthier and happier life should be reason enough for promoting girls’ education.
When you educate a girl child you end up educating a nation and preserving the future of so many generations yet unborn.
Happy International Day of the Girl Child.
Complete life- Girl Child Education and Youth Empowerment Foundation (CL-GEYEF)
https://cl-geyef.org, ceo.clgeyef@gmail.com
