International Day of the Girl - Can you imagine your daughter married at 8 years old?

It's my day for blogging today as we had no electricity on Tuesday and the other days of the week I work. I had all sorts of plans of blogs to write on country walks and crafting with Hama beads and then this email popped into my inbox. I watched the short film and cried and knew I had to blog about it. I have two girls and I cannot imagine them not having an education or being married when just children. We are very lucky here in the UK, there are millions of girls throughout the world who are not so lucky.

Today, October 11th marks the first International Day of the Girl. It has been designated by the UN after an extensive campaign by Plan, a global children's charity that works with children in the world’s poorest countries to help them build a better future.

International Day of the Girl is the day to spread the word that the power of investing in girls is extraordinary. It can save lives and transform futures. Worldwide 75 million girls are still denied an education, that is more than the entire UK population. Every day, young girls are forced into marriage, isolated from their friends and subjected to abuse.

Yet, with education, skills and support, girls can choose their own future and be a force for change. Experience has shown that educated girls are likely to be healthier, to earn more, and to marry and have children later. An educated girl is more likely to reinvest her knowledge and income into her family and community.

Can you imagine your children being forced to marry someone maybe three of four times their age when they're as young as 5 years old? This fate awaits a huge number of girls in the developing world; currently one in seven girls will be married before they are 15. This destroys girls’ youth, education and independence. Plan UK have released a short series of inspiring films worth a watch. Please watch it until the end and see into the eyes of Dina, the girl who is getting married at 13 - she is not happy - she is scared. Were you scared on your wedding day? Probably not.



Do you have daughters, sisters, nieces? Can you imagine them being forced to marry at just 8 years old? (That's only a few months older than my own Little Miss Star) Please help mark the first ever International Day of the Girl by supporting these young girls and sign Plan UK’s petition.

Thank you for reading, and if you can please share on facebook and twitter.

 I would just like to say that I have recieved no payment or reward for this post I just wanted to help.