Show your support for International Day of the Girl with Plan UK
Led by Southbank Centre and global charity Plan UK, the takeover of the EDF Energy London Eye was held on October 11 to mark the launch of WOW Girls and the UN’s first International Day of the Girl.
Award-winning designers, artists, actors, film directors and athletes were among an array of women who speed mentored 180 schoolgirls on the Eye.
T4 presenter Georgie OKell, fashion designer Katharine Hamnett and Team GB women’s boxer Natasha Jonas were among the high-fliers who joined pupils on Europe’s tallest Ferris wheel.
Other guests included TV presenter Fiona Phillips, Coronation Street actress Shobna Gulati, novelist Kathy Lette and comedian Josie Lawrence.
One in three girls around the world is denied an education by the daily realities of poverty, discrimination and violence. Every day, young girls are missing from school, forced into marriage and...
October 11 was adopted a global Day of the Girl by the UN following a Plan-backed campaign led by young activists from some of the world’s poorest communities.
The countdown to the day was marked with an illumination of the London Eye led by record breaking Paralympian Sarah Storey.
Speaking ahead of the launch of WOW Girls Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of Southbank Centre, said: “I am very pleased to be working with Plan UK on this important event to launch the first UN International Day of the Girl. I set up WOW – Women of the World festival in 2011 to celebrate women's achievements and to look for solutions to the many inequalities that women still face globally.
“Girls and young women have featured strongly in WOW in every year and WOW Girls: International Day of the Girl will be our first girls-only WOW event, giving hundreds of girls aged 11 to 18 a voice and an opportunity to celebrate the power and potential of girls,” she added.
Following the success of Southbank Centre’s annual WOW - Women of the World festival - WOW Girls was a day-long event that brought together 180 girls from schools across London and beyond.
Girls aged between 11 and 18 came together for a series of exciting activities.
The day kicked off with speed mentoring, and then the girls went to Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall for a programme of debates, talks, performances and workshops focused on the choices girls face in all areas of their lives, both in this country and abroad.
There were sessions on education and careers, confidence and positive self-image, relationships, family and friends and empowerment to change the world for girls, with speakers from Malawi, Pakistan and Sierra Leone and live performances from some of the UK’s most exciting young female performers.
Speaking ahead of the event, Marie Staunton, Plan’s UK chief executive said: “We are privileged to be collaborating with Southbank Centre on this special event. WOW Girls presents an opportunity to celebrate young women’s accomplishments and highlight the unique challenges encountered by many.
“One in three girls around the world is denied an education by the daily realities of poverty, discrimination and violence. Every day, young girls are missing from school, forced into marriage and put to work against their will – not only is this unjust, it’s a huge waste of potential,” she added.
Plan hopes WOW Girls and the Day of the Girl will help draw attention to poverty and discrimination issues faced by millions of the world’s poorest young women. The charity will highlight girls’ education and the role it plays in helping to reduce poverty in the world’s developing regions.
October 11 saw the London Eye join other prominent landmarks, including New York’s Empire State Building, the Niagara Falls, Toronto’s CN Tower, and the Sony Centre in Berlin, in changing colour in support of Plan’s global efforts to mark the Day of the Girl.
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