What is Day of the Girl?
International Women’s Day and International Day of the Child have long been celebrated, but neither recognise the unique position of girls, who are discriminated against simply for being young and female.
Over the course of a two-year campaign, Plan International built a coalition of support for a day that would celebrate the inherent power of girls while raising awareness of the unique barriers they face.
In 2011, thanks to Plan’s efforts and the support of the Canadian Government, the United Nations made it official, and on October 11, 2012, the world celebrated the first ever International Day of the Girl.
This Day of the Girl, we're taking inequality out of the equation.
The world is less stable than it has been for generations, with conflict, the climate crisis, soaring poverty, and rising child marriage putting girls at even greater risk.
At this rate, it’ll be 134 years until we achieve global gender equality. That’s five more generations of girls. We say enough is enough.
Every day Plan supports girls living through crisis, protecting their rights, ensuring their safety, and celebrating their infinite potential.
When they’re not held back, they are capable of extraordinary things.
Join us on October 11 and be part of the movement for girls.
On October 11, we held our annual Giving Day!
Hosting a telethon in our office, our supporters and generous Match Partners answered the call, exceeding our original target of $80,000, to raise an incredible $130,000 for girls in just 24 hours.
Thanks to the generosity of this community, we can help girls across the globe access an education, fight back against child marriage, and other forms of disadvantage – especially those girls trapped in conflict and crisis situations.
Your support will empower them to secure their right to safety and equality so they can reach for their dreams no matter the setbacks they face.
We’d like to express our gratitude to our Matched Fund partners for their vital contribution this year – David Collins, L’Oreal Paris, The Digital Picnic, Engage & Experience, The FIN Agency, Dataro, Precision, Patricia Faulkner AO and all of our Giving Day Champions.
We partnered with Phoebe Tonkin x Stan
Wanna watch some stereotype smashing TV that champions girls in all their diversities?
This year for Day of the Girl, we partnered with streaming platform Stan, and brought our wonderful ambassador, the actor Phoebe Tonkin, together with 15 of Plan’s incredible youth activists in a fun and inspiring workshop to curate a stellar list of empowering, women-led films and series.
Our curated list will still be available for a couple more days, head to Stan.com.au to check it out!
Our social circle made some noise
Our ambassadors and friends took to social media with posts and stories, celebrating and raising awareness about Day of the Girl and Plan’s work.
Here's how you can be part of the movement
While our annual Giving Day is over, you can still help support girls living through conflict and crisis.
This #DayOfTheGirl, join the conversation with @plan_australia and follow the hashtag #UntilWeAreAllEqual
And if you want to keep up to date with our work, subscribe to our monthly e-Newsletter!
Hear from girls around the world
For International Day of the Girl, we’re sharing a series of animated stories featuring the real stories and voices of girls Plan works with from around the globe.
The State of the World's Girls Research
The State of the World Girls is a series of research reports released every year for International Day of the Girl. This research seeks to raise the voices of girls and young women across the globe by focusing on the issues that matter most to them.
2024: Still We Dream
This year’s report focuses on the wars and conflicts that are raging around the world. We’ve spoken to over 10,000 girls and boys from 10 countries, from Sudan to Lebanon, Ukraine to the Philippines.
Despite having their lives upended, the resilient young people we spoke to still have big dreams and ambitions for the future. They want support to return to school, and they still hope to become doctors, teachers, journalists, engineers and pilots.
2023: Turning the World Around
With a focus on girls’ and young women’s activism, this research is one of the largest studies of girl and young women activists to date, involving over 1,000 adolescent girls and young women across 26 countries.
Face-to-face interviews were led by 70 young women researchers who are themselves activists and their findings are supported by focus group discussions using participatory techniques.
2022: Equal Power Now
In the 2022 State of the World’s Girls report, hear from 29,000 girls and young women from 29 countries as they navigate the political landscape.
+ Girl, Interrupted – 10 years of girls’ rights in Australia
A special Australia-focused report for the 10th anniversary of Day of the Girl, looking at the progress, the setbacks and how to accelerate equality for all.
2021: The Truth Gap
The 2021 State of the World’s Girls report explores how misinformation and disinformation online affect the lives, learning and leadership of girls and young women, and examine the behaviours, attitudes and beliefs that limit girls’ freedom and opportunities in specific environments or sectors. Plan International spoke to 14,000 girls in 22 countries around the world, ages 15 to 24.
