Girls in Afghanistan. Credit: UN Photo/Shehzad Noorani
“The terrorists showed what frightens them most: a girl with a book.” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yusufzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani girl injured in an assassination attempt on her way home from school earlier this month.
Inspired by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at a special event to celebrate the first-ever International Day of the Girl Child on 11 October, people all over the world have started posting photos of girls with books online and you are invited to be take part! Post a photo of a girl with a book here:
- Twitter hashtag: #girlwithabook
More ways to take part:
- Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown is calling for a global day of action when he travels to Pakistan on 10 November, one month after the attack on Malala.
- Add your name to this petition calling on Pakistan to agree a plan to deliver education for every child and calling on all countries to outlaw discrimination against girls.
Be informed! Related resources:
- UN Education First campaign
- Piece by Education Envoy Gordon Brown in the Huffington Post
- Watch the UN panel discussion on the International Day of the Girl Child with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet, Ann Curry and more.
- Millennium Development Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education by 2015
Children in Haiti. Credit: UNICEF/Marco Dormino