October 11 has been declared as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.

The theme for the 2024 International Day of the Girl Child, "Girls’ Vision for the Future" highlights the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights.

Adolescent girls have the right to a safe and healthy life, not only during the critical formative years, but also as they mature into women. If effectively supported during the adolescent years, girls have the potential to change the world – both as the empowered girls of today and as tomorrow’s workers, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads, and political leaders. Investing in girls is not only the right thing to do, but it also brings positive impacts to their families, communities, and societies as a whole.

As a nation, it is time to listen to girls, to invest in proven solutions that will accelerate progress towards a future in which every girl can fulfil her potential.

The Saint Lucia National Commission for UNESCO calls on all Saint Lucians to join in the global celebration of girls, mindful that it is only by ensuring the rights of women and girls, across all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), that we will achieve justice and inclusion, develop economies that work for all, and sustain our shared environment, now and for future generations.