Važno je odati počast tinejdžericama koje čine promjene, bore se za ljudska prava i brišu nejednakosti.

 

“Who runs the world? Girls” („Tko upravlja svijetom? Djevojke.“) – ima li istine u stihovima ove pjesme koju pjeva Beyonce ili je to samo san? Istina je da i dan danas postoje brojne nejednakosti prema djevojčicama diljem svijeta. No tek je 2011. Opća skupština Ujedinjenih naroda proglasila 11. listopada Međunarodnim danom djevojčica.

Međunarodni dan djevojčica osmišljen je kako bi se skrenula pozornost na nejednakosti prema mladim djevojkama i potrebu rješavanja problema vezanih uz njih. Proglašen je kako bi sve podsjetio o ljudskim pravima koja imaju i djevojčice, i kako bi pomogao postići ravnopravnost spolova i osnažiti djevojčice.

Dan svake godine ima novu temu. Prva godina obilježavanja 2012. bila je usredotočena na temu ranog braka, što je kršenje ljudskih prava i kako utječe na svaki aspekt života djevojčica. Posljednjih godina fokus je bio na tehnološkim nejednakostima među spolovima.

Prema UNESCO-u, globalna stopa upisa djevojaka na sveučilište porasla je sa 73% na 89% od 1995. godine, a najveća poboljšanja zabilježena su u subsaharskoj Africi, južnoj Aziji i posebno Indiji. Tri puta više žena sada se upisuje na sveučilišta nego prije dva desetljeća, a poseban je napredak postignut u sjevernoj Africi i zapadnoj Aziji.

 

Iako vidimo neke pozitivne promjene, one su prilično ograničene i nedostatne. Žene još uvijek čine gotovo dvije trećine nepismenog odraslog stanovništva. Gotovo jedna od četiri djevojke u dobi od 15 do 19 godina diljem svijeta nije obrazovana, zaposlena ili obučena za neko zanimanje, u usporedbi s istim brojem dječaka.

Na ovaj je dan važno odati počast svim tinejdžericama koje potiču promjene tijekom posljednih godina.

Greta Thunberg je švedska učenica aktivistica koja govori o neizbježnoj egzistencijalnoj krizi čovječanstva kao posljedici klimatskih promjena. O njenom govoru u UN-u raspravljao je cijeli svijet. Magazin Time proglasio je Gretu osobom 2019. godine, a dva puta je bila nominirana za Nobelovu nagradu.

 

Emer Hickey, Chiara Judge i Sophie Healy-Toe su učenice znanstvenice koje dolaze iz Irske. Kolegice iz razreda pobijedile su na Googleovom sajmu znanosti. Njihov bi projekt teoretski mogao riješiti problem globalne prehrambene krize: otkrili su da je uz pomoć diazotrofne bakterije moguće pojedine usjeve učiniti plodnijima i povećati prinose. Tijekom 11 mjeseci koliko je trajalo istraživanje, bakterija je uspjela smanjiti vrijeme klijanja ječma i zobi za 50% i smanjiti količinu gnojiva potrebnog za rast biljaka.

Aktivistica za ljudska prava Malala Yousafzai preživjela je napad talibana i pucanj u glavu, nedostatak vjere u nju i nezadovoljstvo njezinog naroda u vezi aktivnosti kojima se bavila. Ipak, dobila je Nobelovu nagradu. Malala pomaže Pakistancima da se obrazuju, spašava sirijsku djecu izbjeglice. Ima ugrađenu titansku pločicu u lubanju i djelomično je izgubila sluh, no nikada nije požalila što se nije bojala progovoriti protiv nasilja.

I među Romkinjama ima istaknutih ličnosti. Bronislava Papusza od malih nogu bavila se samoobrazovanjem, čak i unatoč činjenici da nije naišla na odobravanje obitelji. Vlastitim trudom postala je najpismenija osoba u svom romskom naselju, a kasnije se proslavila poezijom.

 

 

 

It is important to pay tribute to the teenage girls who are making the change, fighting for human rights and erasing inequality.

 

“Who runs the world? Girls” - is it a truth or just a dream in the lyrics to a song by Beyonce? The truth is that there are still numerous inequalities towards girls happening all over the world to this day. But it was only 2011 when the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 11th of October as the International Day of the Girl Child.

 

The International Day of the Girl Child was created to draw attention to the inequalities towards young girls and the need to resolve the issues connected to them. It was declared to remind everyone about the human rights that the younger girls have, to help them achieve gender equality, and empower girls.

 

Each year the holiday has a specific theme. The first year of celebration in 2012 focused on the theme of early marriage, which is a violation of human rights and affects every aspect of girls' lives. In recent years, the focus has been on technological inequalities among genders.

 

According to UNESCO, the global university enrollment rate for girls has increased from 73% to 89% since 1995, with the biggest improvements seen in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and especially India. Three times as many women are now enrolling in universities than two decades ago, with particular progress being made in North Africa and West Asia. 

 

Even though we see some positive changes, they are rather limited and not enough. Women still make up nearly two-thirds of the illiterate adult population. Nearly one in four girls aged 15-19 around the world is not educated, employed or trained, compared to the same number of boys. 

 

On this day, it is refreshing and important to pay tribute to the teenage girls who are making the change over the last years.

 

Greta Thunberg is a Swedish schoolgirl activist who speaks out about the inevitable existential crisis for humanity as a result of climate change. Her speech in the UN was discussed by the whole world. Greta was named the Person of the Year 2019 by Time magazine and has been nominated for the Nobel Prize twice.

 

Emer Hickey, Chiara Judge and Sophie Healy-Toe are school girl scientists. Three classmates from Ireland won the Google Science Fair. Their project could theoretically solve the problem of the global food crisis: they found out that with the help of a diazotrophic bacterium, it is possible to make certain crops more fertile and increase yields. During the 11 month that the study was going on, the bacterium was able to reduce the germination time of barley and oats by 50% and reduce the amount of fertilizer needed for plant growth.

 

Human rights activist Malala Yousafzai survived a Taliban attack and a gunshot to the head, a lack of faith in her and dissatisfaction with her activities from the people of her home country. Nevertheless, she won the Nobel Prize. She helps Pakistani people to get education, rescues Syrian refugee children. She has a titanium plate implanted in her skull and partially lost her hearing, but she never regretted that she was not afraid to speak out against violence.

 

Among the Roma women there are also outstanding personalities. Bronislava Papusza from an early age was engaged in self-education, even despite the fact that this was not encouraged by her family. With the help of her own efforts, she became the most literate person in her Roma settlement, and later became famous for her poetry.