Today, is International Day of the Girl, but every day should be celebrated to empower women on a global scale. In May 2012, I was lucky enough to be part of the G(irls) 20 Summit held in Mexico City. This summit, brought together 22 young women from all over the world. Evidently, each country of the G20 were represented as well as a girl representing the African Union and the European Union. We all had the chance to get together to discuss issues encountered by women. From workshops, to meetings, to panels, to field visits and communique writing, this Summit demonstrated how important it is to empower women starting a young age.
It would be difficult to write down in words how inspiring this experience was: even the organizers of this event were overwhelmed by the amount of inspiration present in the room! Within the conference, we kept mentioning, us, young women, young leaders of tomorrow, girls from different cultures and backgrounds, how unfair girls were treated all around the world. Whether it is gender-based violence, access to education, equality in the eyes of the law, access to land or free speech, it is a reality that women are discriminated around the world. In times of financial crisis, we, the Delegates of the 2012 G(irls) 20 Summit urged how important it was to invest in girls for a better tomorrow.
On October 10th, five G(irls) 20 Summit Ambassadors received an Action Fund from Google for projects elaborated in the respective communities that used technology to empower women. Those girls are 5 in 3.5 billion girls around the world and yet they are bringing improvement in their societies that will affect hundreds of both men and women. The G(irls) 20 Summit wants the international community to realize that each girl represents a way to change the world. It is not possible to even think of the idea of a world living in peace and justice, when half of its population still suffers from injustice simply because they are girls.
To learn more on what some of the Delegates are up to and read the communiqués presented to the G20, check out: http://www.girls20summit.com/
Today, as the First International Day of the Girl, take a second to think on how YOU can empower girls and women in your community!