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Girls take over key positions in ministries to promote gender equality
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To highlight the matter in conjunction with International Day of the Girl Child on Oct. 11, the organization initiated a global movement called "Because I Am A Girl" (BIAAG) that will see female children fill 200 key positions in more than 50 countries. (Shutterstock/File)
Not a single country in the world totally practices gender equality, said the director of a child rights organization on Tuesday.
"Discrimination has made women and girls be left behind and unseen in key positions. Only 10 out of 152 heads of state are women. Meanwhile in 500 of the world's top corporations, only 4 percent of the CEOs are female," said Plan International CEO Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen in a press release.
To highlight the matter in conjunction with the International Day of the Girl Child on Oct. 11, the organization initiated a global movement called "Because I Am A Girl" (BIAAG) that will see female children fill 200 key positions in more than 50 countries, including those of president, prime minister, minister, region head, police chief, editor in chief and global corporation leader.
"The takeover of key positions in political, economic and social sectors by these girls will show that female children around the world have the strength and skills to be leaders," said Albrectsen.
(Read also: Empowering women, empowering the national economy)
In Indonesia, the BIAAG movement on Tuesday features a Sehari Jadi Menteri (a day as a minister) activity when two selected girls will fill the roles of two Indonesian ministers, namely the heads of the Womens Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry and the Manpower Ministry.
"We also convinced the East Nusa Tenggara provincial administration and Lembata, Sikka and the Timor Tengah Selatan regency administration to provide opportunities for girls to become governors and regents for a day," said Plan International Indonesia country director Mingming Remata Evora.
Previously, up to 22 girls from 11 provinces gathered in Jakarta to participate in Sehari Jadi Menteri training and orientation. Two of them will be chosen to be ministers and the rest will take the roles of high-ranking officials in the two ministries.
During the activity, they will lead meetings and discuss issues like child marriage and child workers. The meetings' results will be submitted to the real ministers as recommendations for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the fifth goal that focuses on gender equality. (jes/kes)
