By Kielce Gussie
Every year on Mar 8 since 1977, the United Nations celebrates women through various initiatives and programs aimed at bettering their rights and situations in the global context—from childhood to adulthood.
The Talitha Kum International anti-trafficking network launched a new Call to Action to tackle the worldwide problem of human trafficking. Separately, with the goal of giving young girls the best start in life, the United Nations Children’s Fund has promoted a short video to highlight the need to help girls in Afghanistan learn to read and write.
Young people against human trafficking
At the conclusion of the 11th edition of the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking in February—an initiative established by Pope Francis in 2015—a group of international young people, known as Ambassadors of Hope, drafted a Call to Action.
The Call to Action reiterated the Ambassadors’ commitment to praying and caring for those affected by human trafficking and invited young people worldwide to call on governments, institutions, and people of all backgrounds and faiths to take concrete action against human trafficking.
Sr Abby Avelino, coordinator of the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking, said the decision to launch the Call to Action on Mar 8 was “driven by the alarming fact that “70% of the victims of trafficking are women and girls,” according to United Nations data.
Giving girls a future in Afghanistan
Globally, 122 million girls do not go to school, and about 50 million girls and young women cannot read or write a simple sentence. This universal problem is a focus for the United Nations Children’s Fund, which is determined to change this narrative one child at a time.
On International Women’s Day this year, they promoted a short film to draw attention to the 3.7 million children in Afghanistan who do not attend school—60% of whom are girls.
Entitled “MILK TEETH – Being young girls in Afghanistan,” the 9-minute film featuring a young girl named Husnia.
It tells the story of Fatima, a 7-year-old girl, who is losing her “milk teeth.” She fears this because it signals she is becoming a woman and will become “like the many invisible women in her country.” Thus, she endeavors to remain a child forever and avoid this fate.
The President of UNICEF Italy, Carmela Pace, explained that this year the organization wanted to dedicate the International Day to these girls in Afghanistan, “a country where girls are prevented from continuing their studies, effectively freezing their future.”
Ms. Pace described how providing them with an education creates opportunities for development and “protects them from risks, dangers, and violations of their rights, such as early marriages, a practice still widespread in the country.” – Vatican News
