Celebrate International Day of the Girl with three days of digital activity promoting girls' empowerment

WOW has partnered with Mulberry Schools Trust and Purposeful to celebrate International Day of the Girl from 9-11 October 2020. For the past eight years, International Day of the Girl has highlighted and addressed the needs girls have and the challenges they face, whilst also promoting their activism and the fulfilment of their human rights. Here's a look at what's on over the three days.

Tune in at 12pm on Sunday 11 October to hear WOW's Founder Jude Kelly explore life as a girl activist with 20-year-old Amika George, Founder of Free Periods campaign; 17-year-old Hayat Muse, youth activist and co-founder of Kow iyo Labo; and 16-year-old Heba Ahmed, a human rights and anti-racist activist who was responsible for 15,000 people attending the Black Lives Matter protest in Manchester earlier this year.

What does it mean to call yourself an activist? Should young people have to be taking up the mantle of campaigning? And how do you protect yourself online if you're a girl challenging injustice? This fascinating conversation brings together three trailblazing young women in a free online event to explore what it means to be an activist in 2020.

You can watch in the header above here (just click 'Watch Now') or here. The conversation is pre-recorded and captioned in English by Stagetext.

Want to discover brilliant young leaders doing extraordinary things? For 2020, we set out to find incredible young girl and non-binary activists from around the world and platform their work. In this global online directory, the first of its kind, explore a growing list of activists.

From climate justice to gender-based violence activism, ending child marriage and campaigning for sexual health education, these extraordinary leaders will inspire and empower.

Explore the directory and find out about their work here.

Mulberry Schools Trust in partnership with WOW are curating a day of digital panel discussions and workshops on Friday 9 October to be broadcast live to over 20 different schools from Somerset to Singapore.

Speakers will include founder and chair of the Women of the Future Awards and Asian Women of Achievement Awards Pinky Lilani; Jude Kelly founder of The WOW Foundation, which runs WOW - Women of the World; human rights and equality barrister Schona Jolly QC; human rights campaigner Rahima Begum; girls education activist Nusrath Hassan; actress Jing Lusi; creative director, artist activist and DJ Saliah M Bryan; youth sports ambassador and podcast host Lipa Nessa; CEO of UK Youth Ndidi Okezie and multi-award-winning broadcaster, social impact entrepreneur and diversity champion Dr Joanna Abeyie MBE.

Working in partnership with Purposeful, a feminist movement-building hub for adolescent girls, WOW has brought together 40 girl and non-binary activists between the ages of 11-19 who are known for their work, both in their home countries and globally, in areas such as social justice, LGBTIQAI+ rights, climate action, education activism, sexual and reproductive health and rights activism and gender equality.

Over two sessions on Saturday 10 October and Sunday 11 October, WOW and Purposeful will hold two closed, virtual convenings to bring together these inspirational activists to connect, share ideas and learn from one another to help establish a new network. The sessions will end with a Self Care in Activism workshop led by Manal Omar (Across Red Lines) and Haleema Bharoocha (Alliance For Girls).

Although these sessions are private, you can explore the young leaders who are taking part in our Young Leaders Directory.

WOW Day of the Girl is part of our year-long work to celebrate women and girls, and ensure their voices are heard. Visit our Support page to find out how you can help us continue this work.

WOW Festivals and events are presented by arrangement with Southbank Centre.