Today marks the International Day of the Girl Child, a United Nations led initiative supporting the more than 1.1 billion girls worldwide who are a powerful force for shaping a sustainable world. 

The Day aims to highlight the fact too many girls around the world have their potential and dreams thwarted by violence, discrimination and inequality. 

The theme this year is “Girls’ Progress = Goals’ Progress: A Global Girl Data Movement”, calling for action on increasing the availability and analysis of girl-focused and sex-disaggregated data.

Already, some such data highlights some of the major issues facing girls all over the world including that:

• One in 3 girls in developing countries (except China) are married before turning 18

• Poor girls are 2.5 times more likely to marry in childhood than wealthy girls

• Child marriage usually ends a girl’s education, and puts her at greater risk of violence.

• Childbirth is the number one killer of girls aged 15 to 19, with 50,000 deaths annually

• 36 million primary school aged girls are not in school

• Girls receive just an average of six years of formal education in their lives

• A girl’s income is elevated by 10 to 20% for every year of secondary school she attends

• A child is 50% more likely to survive past the age of five if she is born to a mother who can read

Meanwhile, CNN will tonight air a documentary looking at Michelle Obama’s mission to educate girls around the world (to screen 12pm October 13 AEDT)

In it, the First Lady delivers an inspiring speech to a number of girls, sharing how overcoming struggles and challenges only makes you stronger and better:

“My Goal as first lady was to make sure I was the best first lady I could be,” she says. 

“So I made sure that every day I came to my job, I brought a level of passion and competence and trust, and I try to operate from that place every single day

“Maybe those are some of my strengths. But [it’s also] the ability to just be me, no matter where I am.  

“You don’t have to be somebody different to be important. You’re important in your own right. 

“People want and value you because of who you are. Because of your story. Because of your challenges. That’s what makes you unique. 

“The fact I’ve been able to overcome challenges, that made me smarter. That made me better. I overcame things that a lot of people who were in the same position never had to overcome.”