Blog of Marie-Christine Gries, SI Representative to UNESCO, Paris.

This project is run by a group of representatives of UNESCO’s NGO partners. Its goal is to ensure that the International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC) is celebrated more widely throughout the world.

The working group behind the project was set up in 2017 on the initiative of representatives of major women’s NGOs (BPWI, SOROPTIMIST, WAGGS, ZONTA), led by Ms. Martine Levy (WAGGS) and myself for SI. This group quickly brought together around thirty NGOs to organise a celebration of IDGC in 2018 at UNESCO. The intended effect of a public celebration is to trigger reflection and awareness-raising among people and leaders, to bring about changes in families, communities, and educational institutions, and to develop specific programmes and practices improving the lives of girls. During the event, the participating NGOs must launch a programme for girls (education, health, various forms of violence, sexist prejudices, etc.). Combining advocacy and action!

IDGC was established in 2011 by the United Nations, but UNESCO did not celebrate it until 2018. On the same day, at UNESCO, the NGOs concerned celebrated their own parallel event, supported by UNESCO, presenting a different approach to the subject.

The NGOs drew up the programme for this celebration with the conviction that their approach to raising awareness should continue to be that of grassroots NGOs listening to the people concerned.

The NGO event on 11 October 2018

The event focused on listening to teenage girls to understand the obstacles preventing them from achieving the future they hope for. Speakers based their advocacy on reliable testimonies collected by teachers from over 600 girls in various parts of the world, outside the most developed countries. During the session, a few of these quotes were read aloud, revealing the recurring challenges the girls face, including disrupted education, domestic roles, forced marriages, sexist barriers, and violence, at home and on their way to school.

These testimonies were from girls who had access to education. The event raised the question: what about the fate of the 122 million girls who are denied schooling?

The event concluded with the reading of a manifesto signed by all participating NGOs, condemning the violations of human rights and children’s rights. The manifesto was distributed to the national delegations of UNESCO Member States.

The COVID-19 pandemic paused the group’s activities in 2020-21, but in 2022, their work resumed under the name “Voix des Filles” (Girls’ Voices), an imperative in the post-pandemic context.

Impact of COVID on SDGs 4 and 5

The post-COVID state of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on education has been disastrous. Despite efforts by UNESCO, national education ministries, teacher coalitions, experts, and NGOs, it is clear that the goal will not be met by 2030. The pandemic has erased a decade of progress. Girls have been disproportionately affected, facing school dropouts, increased sexual violence, early pregnancies, health and hygiene issues, and worsened poverty due to the loss of family income.

Similarly, the impact on SDG 5, gender equality, has been severe. The deprivation of education has left girls vulnerable to continued dependency, discrimination, and violence. The next generation is still far from achieving full gender equality.

The IDGC remains less widely celebrated than Women’s Day or Children’s Day, and public communication rarely addresses the specific struggles faced by girls. Recognising the pandemic’s damaging impact, we relocated our planned event to raise awareness directly where it was most needed. Instead of UNESCO headquarters, we sought partnerships aligning with UNESCO’s two priorities: Women and Africa. This was well-received by UNESCO, particularly the Deputy Director-General for Africa and regional offices.

The local branches of the NGOs involved quickly embraced the project, uniting under the name ‘Voix des Filles Côte d’Ivoire’. This group, comprising over 30 NGOs, is chaired by Jean Bolly from the local NGO AJAD, affiliated with Make Mothers Matter. The Ivorian National Commission for UNESCO and the UNESCO office in Abidjan provide essential support, facilitating meetings and administrative processes. At UNESCO headquarters, we maintain regular contact with the Permanent Delegation of Côte d’Ivoire.

During an advocacy trip to Abidjan, Mrs. Lévy, Mr. Bolly, and I were formally received by high-ranking government officials, including Minister for the Family, Women, and Children, Mrs. Nasséneba TOURE, who agreed to sponsor the project. She shares our belief in the positive impact that celebrating IDGC can have on shifting public opinion. The Minister kindly presided over the first launch event of the ‘Voix des Filles Côte d’Ivoire’ project in October 2023 near Abidjan, attended by NGOs, regional officials, and local figures.

At UNESCO, we were honoured to be one of three groups selected to report on our project at the November 2023 General Conference.

For the 11 October 2024 IDGC celebration in Yamoussoukro, the Paris group shared useful contacts with the Abidjan group. However, the programme and future concrete actions are being developed by ‘Voix des Filles Côte d’Ivoire,’ who are best placed to address local priorities, including menstrual hygiene, a key priority for Soroptimist Ivory Coast.

Spreading a replicable model

We still must help develop ‘Girls’ Voices’ groups in other African countries where UNESCO’s partner NGOs are present and organised enough to reproduce the model by integrating national NGOs!

Local correspondents of UNESCO’s partner NGOs, in contact with the Paris group, are currently laying the groundwork for the creation of local ‘VDF’ groups: in Morocco, which had been contacted in 2022, in Congo, in DRC, in Madagascar and in Senegal. The president of the Ivory Coast group is available to share information on the steps to be taken, the support to be sought and the organisation of the work.

In this promising movement, I wholeheartedly congratulate and thank the Ivorian Soroptimists who warmly welcomed me, showing the efficiency, dynamism and power of our movement in the organisation of the project and its operational forms, also  the Soroptimist club in Rabat, whose board members I had the pleasure of meeting during the preparatory mission in 2022 (for a first project not followed), who I hope will be involved in the new version, the clubs in Madagascar and their national managers who immediately committed to the project!