October 11, 2019 International Girls' Day: The Gombe's Sacred Heart High School hosts the celebration.

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View of the students of the Lycée Sacré cœur de la Gombe in Kinshasa
Photo of the students of the Lycée Sacré cœur de la Gombe in Kinshasa. Photo credit: Carlos Ngeleka/UN Women DRC

 

On Friday, October 11, 2019, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Family in collaboration with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (UN Women) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) organized the celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child at the Public School “Sacré Coeur” in Gombé, Kinshasa.

 

While the international theme of the celebration of the International Day of the Girl is "Girls as a free and unstoppable force, for this Edition, the national theme is as follows: The education of the girl child, a guarantee of the development of the DRC.

 

This special day dedicated to girls and its prestigious theme caught the attention of several authorities in the country, including members of the government, the FARDC, the Police. Civil society, diplomatic corps, students and faculty also responded quickly to this joint activity.  Special mention was made to UN Women and UNFPA for their support to the Ministry of Gender for holding these meetings.

Ms. Awa Ndiaye Seck, Resident Representative of UN Women during her remarks
Ms. Awa Ndiaye Seck, Resident Representative of UN Women during her remarks. Photo credit: Carlos Ngeleka/UN Women DRC

 

Mrs. Awa Ndiaye Seck, Resident Representative of UN Women in the DRC, recalled in her remarks that UN Women takes into account youth in achieving the MDGs by 2030. To transform our global society in order to be able to provide answers for all ages and generations, spaces like today’s celebration are needed to foster intergenerational dialogue and interactive exchanges. At the celebration a panel of intellectual, technical and high-level leaders discussed with young girls. UN Women through this panel, hopes to identify the recommendations it will endorse so that the girl's strategic interests are taken into account.

 

The Minister of State, Minister of Gender, Children and Family Affairs, her Excellency Beatrice Lomeya, recalled in her speech that this day is an opportunity for us to advocate more on the investments needed to enable the girls of our country to develop their potential and become powerful agents of change within their communities. She invited each parent to send their daughter to school to make her a true development actor. For girls, she wished for a lot of determination to study because their future and that of the nation depend on it.