National Girl Child Day
Every child is special, specially the girl child, as she is the one who keeps the cycle of human life going on. Yet, with the March of human kind this glorious gift has suffered culpable neglect and callous cruelty for a very long time despite protests by humanists, thinkers and sages in every country. When this precious gift is not valued and respected and more often than naught is refused to be accepted (female feticide and infanticide) then are we proclaiming that we are not worthy of receiving this invaluable gift.
The Government of India in 2008 declared January 24 of every year to be celebrated as the ‘National Girl Child Day’ with the objective of raising consciousness of the society towards the girl child so that she can be valued and respected and to address and reverse the trend of declining child sex ratio in the country. Also these initiatives help to work towards ensuring that girls are born, loved and nurtured and grow up to become empowered citizens of this country with equal rights and opportunities.
The empowerment of and investment in girls, which are critical for economic growth, the achievement of all Millennium Development Goals, including the eradication of poverty and extreme poverty, as well as the meaningful participation of girls in decisions that affect them, are key in breaking the cycle of discrimination and violence and in promoting and protecting the full and effective enjoyment of their human rights, and recognizing also that empowering girls requires their active participation in decision-making processes and the active support and engagement of their parents, legal guardians, families and care providers. On this day various campaigns are launched, various developments and welfare schemes are initiated. Various activities are on this day serve the objective of raising awareness on girl child’s rights to survival, development, participation and protection. It highlights every child’s rights to explore her potential, to play, to dream, to a secure environment – essentially to a childhood.
