Sharjah Girl Guides Marks International Day of the Girl Child

To mark the International Day of the Girl Child, Sharjah Girl Guides (SGG) organised two days of ‘Team Girl’ interactive workshops aimed at brownies, aged 7-11 years, to help them understand the different and often harsh challenges that girls from other parts of the world face on a daily basis.

The sessions and activities covered an entire spectrum of issues that the girls’ contemporaries must endure, including early marriage, a lack of education and ongoing conflicts, addressing their needs and restraints while promoting their empowerment and fulfilling their human rights.

The workshops not only helped to raise awareness in the brownies from an early age, they also presented a perspective on their own circumstances and gave them the opportunity to embrace the qualities and leadership skills that could help to alleviate the suffering in the future.

Shaikha Abdulaziz Al Shamsi, Manager of SGG, said the workshops provided the brownies with an essential insight into difficulties affecting hundreds of thousands of girls around the world while helping them to achieve an understanding of their own community and the positive actions they can take.

“This is a highly significant day which brings global attention to the challenges and opportunities girls face before, during, and after crises, whether those are personal issues, community restrictions or natural disasters.

“Sharjah Girl Guides and the Girl Guides Association of the United Arab Emirates have always sought to raise awareness about the rights of girls worldwide, and in organising these workshops, we continue to encourage a new generation of leaders who have no sympathy for intolerance and will campaign for the rights and empowerment of girls around the world.”

The workshops included messages on global perspectives, such as a sense of belonging in the UAE and the safety and stability that brings, encouraging the girls’ critical thinking and problem solving skills.

On a community level, the brownies were educated on the importance of breaking the stereotypes of girls and traditional measures of beauty from general appearance to body shapes. This was also instrumental in helping to raise the girls’ awareness about their sense of right and wrong and boost their self-confidence.

One of the sessions titled ‘Building the Future’ was aimed at building leadership skills and decision making capabilities, which was not only one of the most popular activities, it also reflected the values and goals of SGG.

The girls also had the chance to hear some inspirational stories from business pioneers who were able to enjoy professional and personal successes despite the many challenges they faced in their lives. It showcased Emirati and Arab businesswomen and inventors, providing positive female role models from today’s world and a contemporary and relevant look at how the girls can achieve their goals despite numerous hardships.

In one of the final sessions, the girls learned how to find a voice that is filled with hope, humanity and unconditional readiness to serve for good – and how to inspire others to do the same. In a show of solidarity and support to girls around the world, the brownies created a video about finding their inner voice and the power to face the most challenging situations.

The young participants rounded off the workshops by summarising their educational journeys, where each spoke about an image of her choice from the two days of inspiration and insights.

In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly declared October 11 as the annual International Day of the Girl Child, to recognise girls’ rights and the unique challenges they face around the world. The theme for this year is ‘EmPOWER Girls: Emergency Response and Resilience Planning’, reflecting UNESCO’s commitment to promote the protection of girls from conflict and violence and to strengthen their resilience, while ensuring their full participation in mediation and negotiation processes.