In today’s society there is a national day for everything – pizza, life insurance, make men cook- however it is really important to recognize the days that can truly make an impact on our society. More and more we are seeing nonprofits and socially responsible companies advocating to make the world a better place through programming and cause marketing initiatives.
Last Thursday, October 11th, the world celebrated International Day of the Girl. The United Nations created it in 2012 to demonstrate the need for more opportunity for girls and increase awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender. With 1.1 billion girls in the world, the time is now to help these young girls meet their full potential and not let them get stuck in the status quo. According to the UN Women’s website, across the world, girls face adversities that hinder their education, training and entry into the workforce.
International Day of the Girl, which was trending on all social media platforms, brought together thought leaders, government officials and celebrities alike to heighten the awareness to support global girls’ education. It also brought the announcements of two initiatives to support young girls from around the world:
- On The Today Show by Former First Lady Michelle Obama announced Global Girls Alliance, a new program part of the Obama Foundation, which seeks to empower adolescent girls around the world through education, allowing them to achieve their full potential and transform their families, communities, and countries. They engage people around the world to take action to help adolescent girls and the grassroots leaders working to educate them.
- Disney launched the #DreamBigPrincess video series offering advice and inspiration on achieving success for the next generation of young leaders around the globe. The videos are produced and directed by young women from the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up initiative. The videos shares the stories of 20 trailblazing women across technology, entertainment, medicine, law, sports, arts, science, fashion and politics to show the next generation what’s possible if you dream big.
Are you a nonprofit with an upcoming day to celebrate? Here’s a few tips to make the day memorable:
- Collaborate with your partners to develop a new program and/or initiative to reach your mission’s goal
- Produce an event to heighten awareness of your organization and day
- Create a relevant hashtag for the day – #internationaldayofthegirl was trending on Twitter
