International Day of the Girl Child 2024 Celebration by SDG5 Team

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International Day of the Girl Child 2024 Celebration by SDG5 Team

Report: Live Discussion Programme for International Day of the Girl Child 2024 Celebration by SDG5 Team

Executive Summary

This report details the live discussion programme held on Friday, October 10th, 2024, in commemoration of the International Day for the Girl Child. The event, themed “Girls Vision for the Future,” featured faculty, staff, and selected students from the university community. Despite a slight delay due to network issues, the programme successfully addressed crucial topics related to girls’ empowerment, education, and future prospects.

Background

The International Day of the Girl Child, established by the United Nations in 2012, aims to recognize girls’ rights and the challenges they face worldwide. The 2024 theme, “Girls Vision for the Future,” focused on empowering girls to shape their own destinies.

Event Details

  • Date: Friday, October 10th, 2024
  • Venue: Mass Communication Studio, First College Building
  • Time: 10:00am- Commenced one hour behind schedule due to network issues
  • Format: Live discussion, recorded for later upload by the CSIS group

Speakers

  • Prof. Charity Aremu – Director, AGP and immediate past Vice-Chancellor
  • Dr. Seun Ogundokun – SDG 4 Champion
  • Mrs. Victoria Oloyede – Cafeteria Manager
  • Miss Ogbani Eliora- Student Female Chaplain
  • Miss Opalachi Shalom- Vice-Chairperson, Student Council

Key Discussion Segments

Segment 1: Empowerment and Education

Topic: Challenging and changing societal norms that limit girl’s potential and effective strategies for promoting girl empowerment. 

Key points: 

  • Prof. Aremu highlighted the significant decadence in growth, development, and education of the girl child, emphasizing the need for immediate action.
  • The importance of creating awareness among girls about their identity and potential was stressed. Suggestions included:
    • Organizing campaigns to educate girls about their worth and capabilities.
    • Developing educational platforms that provide comprehensive information to girls about their rights, potential, and societal roles.
  • Speakers emphasized the need to openly discuss and address the various challenges faced by girls. By being well-informed, girls can be better equipped to tackle these challenges as they arise.

Topic 2: The role of education in shaping the future of the girl child and ensuring equal access to quality education.

Key Points:

  • Mrs. Oloyede emphasized the crucial role of quality education in encouraging and empowering young girls to face life challenges.
  • She highlighted how education equips girls to compete favorably with their male counterparts, promoting gender equality in various fields.
  • The importance of addressing challenges faced by girls was stressed.
  • The Student Female Chaplain defined the girl child as young females with limited life knowledge and decision-making abilities, highlighting their vulnerability.
  • Education was identified as critical in making girls bold, informed, and competitive with their male counterparts.

Segment 2: Breaking Barriers and Stereotypes

Topic: Stereotypes and biases faced by girls and strategies to overcome them and create a more inclusive environment.

Key Points:

  • Identified challenges include domestic abuse, gender based-violence, rape, discrimination, conflicts, prioritizing the male gender, and early marriage. 
  • Prof. Aremu suggested creating inclusive environments to reduce these challenges, highlighted the need to eliminate negative perceptions about girls.
  • Encouraging girls to know themselves was highlighted as a strategy to face opposition and overcome stereotypes tactically.
  • Eliminating criticism mentality, and blame games which creates a glass ceiling to the girl child
  • Recommendations included engaging girls in competitions, debates, carving a niche for yourself as a girl child, and valuable engagements to reduce discrimination.
  • Also, parents should be able to wake up to their responsibilities, by identifying the potential in the girl child to push it forward or remove it when its in the negative. 
  • Child should be able to develop critical thinking ability but when they face theses stereotypes, it limits their ability. 
  • Emphasized the need for government policies to prevent early marriage.
  • Stressed the importance of parental responsibilities in identifying and nurturing their daughters’ potential.

Segment 3: Vision for the future

What does an ideal future look like for the girl child, and what is your vision of an ideal country as a Nigerian? 

Key Points: 

Who can be regarded as the girl child; the female is regarded as the girl child, teenagers, females who do not have the major knowledge about life. 

  • Vision is to succeed and do well in what so ever field of endavour
  • Make impacts to humanity
  • Nigeria is not an ideal country because opportunities are not available to young girls including those who graduate from private universities
  • Expectations cannot be met, 
  • As a girl child, I hope to become great
  • Education goes beyond academic experience, hence the need to have skills such as entrepreneurial studies to groom students to learn skills to become self-employed or employer of labour rather than wait for employment. 

Segment 4: Leadership and activism

Topic: Roles girls and young women play in leading social change and advocacy efforts, and how to support and amplify their voices.

Key points: 

  • Dr. Ogundokun highlighted the potential for girls to have low self-esteem, emphasizing the critical need to address this issue.
  • The importance of helping young girls realize their ability to compete equally with their counterparts was stressed.
  • Speakers emphasized the importance of having clear visions and targets for personal and professional growth.
  • The need for regularly measuring progress towards these visions was highlighted as a key factor in achieving success.
  • The discussion underscored the value of having mentors and following their lead in personal and professional development.
  • Implementing mentorship programs was suggested as a way to encourage young girls’ participation in various fields, especially STEM.
  • The importance of having a working plan, scheduling tasks, and adhering to them was emphasized as crucial for success.
  • Speakers advised on setting goals and persistently working towards achieving them, acknowledging that success may not be instant but comes with time and dedication.
  • The discussion highlighted the need to encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM fields and male-dominated industries.
  • Suggestions included implementing targeted mentorship programs and conducting workshops on cutting-edge topics like robotics and artificial intelligence.
  • Sharing sponsorship and training opportunities to help girls compete equally with their male counterparts.

Topic 2: Message to the girl child around the world, and advise to help them achieve their dreams

Key points: 

  • Believe and know that you’re not a mistake, God created you for a purpose and you can fulfil it
  • Do not Carry yourself as a star, you can be educated 
  • Be determined, focused, avoid following the multitude, and stand out always
  • Be mindful of your Vision, carry yourself with a sense of self-awareness of who you are. 

Additional Features: 

  • The event also featured short poem presentations on the girl child by two female students Abiodun Gold and Eyoh Sharon, of Landmark University. 

Challenges

The programme started an hour late due to network issues.

Outcomes

  • The discussion was recorded for later upload, ensuring wider reach within the university community. 
  • The event successfully brought together diverse perspectives from faculty, staff, and students.

Recommendations

  • Improve technical infrastructure to prevent delays in future events.
  • Create mentorship programs pairing successful women professionals with young girls to provide guidance and inspiration.
  • Develop follow-up programmes to implement the suggestions made during the discussion.
  • Create more opportunities for mentorship and STEM education for girls within the university
  • Organize regular workshops and seminars on girls’ empowerment and leadership skills. 
  • Collaborate with local organizations to create internship opportunities for girls in various fields.
  • Create a support network for girls to share experiences and learn from each other.

Conclusion

The Live Discussion Programme for International Day of the Girl Child 2024 provided a valuable platform for addressing critical issues facing girls in our society. Despite the initial delay, the event successfully brought together diverse perspectives and generated meaningful dialogue on empowerment, education, and future prospects for girls. The insights and recommendations from this discussion serve as a foundation for ongoing efforts to support and empower the girl child in our community and beyond.

It is clear that education plays a pivotal role in this process, not just in terms of academic knowledge, but also in fostering self-awareness, confidence, and the ability to face challenges head-on.

Moving forward, it is crucial to transform the ideas and suggestions from this event into actionable plans. By focusing on comprehensive awareness campaigns, educational platforms, ensuring safety, mentorship programs, promoting leadership opportunities and challenging societal norms, we can work towards creating a more equitable and inclusive future for all girls. The commitment shown by the university community in this event demonstrates a strong foundation for these efforts, and with continued dedication, we can make significant strides in girl empowerment and education.

Thank you. 

Dr. Olushola Akanmode SDG 5, Research Team Champion

Dr. Temitope Asiyanbola Secretary, SDG 5 Research Team 

Categories: Events, MEETINGS, REPORT & EVENTS, SDG 5