WUNRN
SWDC - Somali Women Development
Center
Somalia - Day of the Girl
Child 2014 - Empowering Adolescent Girls - Ending the Cycle of Violence
The United Nations
declared 11th October as the international
day of the girl child to promote the rights of young girls and to address the
inequalities faced by the girls because of their gender. In this year’s event,
SWDC organized gathering in one of the biggest IDP camps in
What Does This Day Means to Somali Girls?
Somali girls unlike other
girls in the world have been facing difficulties during early stages of their
childhood. More than two decades of chaos and instability have made their life
more difficult. Sexual violence and other harmful traditional practices have
made their situation more miserable. However, with all these challenges, Somali
girls play an active role in their communities in general and in particular in
their families, they take of their younger brothers and sisters, they help
their parents with the housework and more importantly they are sometimes
breadwinners for their families.
Because She Is a Girl
Despite these successes,
Somali girls are always face discrimination within their communities simply
because they are girls. Number of girls who attend schools in
“Zahra is 15 years old married
to 35-year-old man, her parents forced her to marry a man for financial
purposes but as Zahra says, her life is way difficult than before she is got
married., Zahra who did not allowed to take photo said she will be having her
first baby in the next 3 months and never had the opportunity to attend school.
“He told my parent that he will give me everything I needed but It has always
been promises that has never get fulfilled”.
Traditional practices like
force young girls in
Somali Women Development Center in the Field
SWDC shared the moment
with IDP girls whom their voice is unheard because they are girls and they are
from the most vulnerable groups of the community. SWDC team visited
Al-cadala IDP camp located outskirts where the largest number of IDP reside.
More than 100 girls from local area came together and expressed their voice and
their rights to the world. Poverty and insecurity have forced these girls to
flee from their original home town.
When asked if they had
the opportunity to attend school, their answer was “we never had the
opportunity to sit in a class”. Only very few of them were luck to go
One of the SWDC staff
explained the significance of the day to the attendants and encouraged them to
stand and speak out for their rights. Among the attendants were parents of
these girls whom were also sensitized to stop inequalities between their
children.
My Voice, My
Right, My Life
SWDC also printed strong
message in a papers and distributed to the girls in order to enable for them to
tell the world what they needed, their concerns as well as their rights. Dance
and songs were performed by some of the girls, sweets were distributed and
glimmer of hope could be seen from their faces. Moreover, the young girls
showed their solidarity with their other sisters kidnapped in
.
Celebrate the Power and Potential of Girls!
Celebrate the power and potential of
girls!
The International Day of
the Girl gives local civil society organizations like SWDC a powerful way to
highlight the needs and rights of girls and to advocate for greater action and
investment to enable girls to reach their full potential. Educating girls is
like educating a whole nation, when girls are educated, healthy and informed;
they lift themselves, their children and their entire communities out of
poverty.
Why Do We Need a Day of the Girl?
Girls face double
discrimination because of their age and gender. In many parts of the world
including our country they face unique challenges, like:
- Barriers
to education and opportunities to make a living
- Early and forced marriage
- Poverty
- Sexual gender based violence
These challenges require
specific and urgent attention. By making progress in these areas, girls will
have the tools to create a better life for themselves and lift entire nations
out of poverty.
Can a Single Day Make a Difference?
Commemorative days
provide an important opportunity to address specific issues, and have
communities join together for tangible action. They are also a good time to ask
governments, international communities and other concerned agencies to make
changes that will improve people’s lives.
The Day of the Girl will
do all of those things. It gives us a powerful way to highlight the particular
needs and rights of girls, and to advocate for greater action and investment to
enable girls to reach their full potential.
What Next?
Having a Day of the Girl
gives us a real opportunity to get international attention and action on issues
that affect girls.
One real way to make a difference for girls is to ensure their rights and dignity is protected. For that reason, SWDC plan to continue its commitment to provide preventive and response measures to these girls who face sexual gender based violence. This will include access to justice, psychosocial support as well as relocation assistance. SWDC will collaborate with local authorities and all other concerned parties of the federal government including law enforcement, justice institutions to minimize the number of girls who are subjected to violence. SWDC’s vision is to create an environment where Somali girls are free from all forms of violence.
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