International Day of the Girl

The theme of this year's International Day of the Girl is Girls' Progress = Goals' Progress: What Counts for Girls.

While we can applaud the ambition and potential of the Sustainable Development Goals for girls, and recognize how girls’ progress is good not only for girls, but also for families, communities and society at large, we must also take this opportunity to consider how existing gaps in data on girls and young women, a lack of systematic analysis and limited use of existing data, significantly constrain our ability to monitor and communicate the wellbeing and progress of nearly half of humanity.

What matters to us: girls put their questions to UN Directors

arin Hulshof, UNICEF, Miwa Kato, UN Women, and Yoriko Yasukawa, UNFPA, answer girls’ questions

There are 1.1 billion girls in the world today, a powerful constituency for shaping a sustainable world that is better for everyone. They are brimming with talent and creativity - but their dreams and potential are often thwarted by discrimination, violence and lack of equal opportunities.

For today’s International Day of the Girl, girls from across the region sent their questions to the heads of UNICEF, UN Women and UNFPA in Asia and the Pacific on the issues that matter to them.

Read the full story.

UNFPA & girls

UNFPA works to protect the health and rights of adolescent girls through comprehensive sexuality education; access to sexual and reproductive health counselling, information and services; and through encouraging girls' empowerment and participation in decisions affecting them. UNFPA also works with boys and men to advance gender equality, and to encourage the abandonment of harmful stereotypes, the embrace respectful, healthy relationships, and support for human rights of all people, everywhere.

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