Oct 13, 2020
Thanks for your patience over the past month while I have taken some time away from this podcast. While I’ve been on hiatus here, I’ve been focusing on my family, my mental and emotional health, and my business - including launching a brand new podcast that I think you’ll love. It’s called Iconic Women with Sarah Heeter (that’s me!) and it is a family friendly show with 2-3 episodes per week, focused on sharing the stories of women from three categories: women from history, women from today, and women under 30 - who have broken barriers, overcome obstacles, and/or redefined what it means to be a woman. Give it a listen, and let me know what you think by leaving a review!
Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/iconic-women-podcast-with-sarah-heeter/id1529198201
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UNICEF: International Day of the Girl 2020
It’s not too late to celebrate International Day of the Girl!
International Day of the Girl just passed on October 11.
Here’s some background on the day itself!
In 1995 at the World Conference on Women in Beijing countries unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing the rights of not only women but girls. The Beijing Declaration is the first to specifically call out girls’ rights.
On December 19, 2011, United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.
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.
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DID YOU KNOW?
- Worldwide, nearly 1 in 4 girls aged 15–19 years is neither employed nor in education or training compared to 1 in 10 boys of the same age. By 2021 around 435 million women and girls will be living on less than $1.90 a day — including 47 million pushed into poverty as a result of COVID-19.
- 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence. Emerging data shows that since the outbreak of COVID-19, violence against women and girls (VAWG), and particularly domestic violence, has INTENSIFIED.
- At least 60% of countries still discriminate against daughters’ rights to inherit land and non-land assets in either law or practice.
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As adolescent girls worldwide assert their power as change-makers, International Day of the Girl 2020 will focus on their demands to:
- Live free from gender-based violence, harmful practices, and HIV and AIDS
- Learn new skills towards the futures they choose
- Lead as a generation of activists accelerating social change
Ways to get involved
- Share stories of inspiring adolescent girls or girl-led organizations who are developing innovative solutions or leading efforts towards positive social change, including gender equality, in their communities and nations. Let’s amplify their leadership, actions and impact to inspire others.
- Participate in a youth-led digital activation launching on International Day of the Girl. Young people across the world are developing a digital activism campaign, aiming to raise the diversity of girls’ voices and their vision for a reimagined future.
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UNICEF: The Impact of Coronavirus Public Health Crisis on the State of Girls and Families Around the World
UNICEF prioritizes five core programmatic and advocacy actions that recognize the public health, social and economic consequences of this pandemic:
- Care for caregivers.
- Prepare for increases in gender-based violence throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.
- Maintain core health and education services and systems.
- Engage women's and youth rights networks to support connectivity and the flow of vital information.
- Ensure gender data are available, analyzed and actionable.
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Under UNICEF’s Core Commitments for Children, every humanitarian response has gender equity at the core with a focus on:
- An end to Gender-based Violence (GBV)
- Community engagement with and for women and girls
- Gender-responsive programming, including a lens on adolescent girls
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Sources:
https://www.unicef.org/media/65586/file/A-new-era-for-girls-2020.pdf
https://www.girlscouts.org/en/for-girls/think-globally/global-action-award.html