UNIS/SGSM/1444
9 October 2024
The potential of the world’s more than 1.1 billion girls is limitless. But as we creep closer to the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals, the world continues to fail girls.
Girls account for more than 70 per cent of new adolescent HIV infections. They are almost twice as likely as boys to miss out on education or training. And child marriage remains widespread, with approximately one in five girls globally married before the age of 18. Across the world, hard-won gains for gender equality are being erased by a war on the fundamental rights of women and girls, endangering their lives, restricting their choices, and limiting girls’ futures.
The theme of this year’s International Day of the Girl Child is ‘Girls’ Vision for the Future’.
Girls already have a vision of a world where they can thrive. They are working to turn that vision into action, and demanding their voices be heard. It is high time we listened. We must provide girls with a seat at the table, through education, and by giving them the resources they need and opportunities to participate and lead.
The courage, hope and determination of girls are a force to be reckoned with. It is time for the world to step up and help transform their vision and aspirations into reality.
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We must transform how we produce and consume, and how we value nature, says the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, "Biodiversity is the bedrock of life and a cornerstone of sustainable development.... Biodiversity loss is a global challenge. No one country, however rich or powerful, can address it alone. Nor can they live without the rich biodiversity that defines our planet."
LGBTIQ+ people around the world face an onslaught of hate speech, attacks, and restrictions on their rights. The power of communities is the theme this year which reminds us that we are strongest together. "LGBTIQ+ people, and those working with them to secure their rights, have proved time and again the value of communities in providing support and driving change," says UN Secretary-General António Guterres
"From the telegraph to radio, from the Internet to Artificial Intelligence, technology has transformed how we live, work, and connect." — António Guterres
Barbados signed and deposited its instrument of ratification for the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships”) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 8 May 2025.
