Established by the United Nations in 2012, International Day of the Girl "aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls' empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights."
The UN has identified the theme for this year's International Day of the Girl as "GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable," and will use the occasion to "celebrate achievements by, with and for girls."
Find some of the greatest quotes about girl power below.
Happy #DayoftheGirl! I’m excited to share that in December, I’ll be visiting Vietnam to meet some of the inspiring girls from the @GirlsAlliance community and the organizations that work so hard to support their dreams.
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) October 11, 2019
I can't wait to share their stories with you.
"I am an example of what is possible when girls from the very beginning of their lives are loved and nurtured by people around them. I was surrounded by extraordinary women in my life who taught me about quiet strength and dignity" —former first lady Michelle Obama to a G-20 audience in 2009
"To all the little girls watching...never doubt that you are valuable and powerful & deserving of every chance & opportunity in the world." — Hilary Clinton, in her 2016 concession speech
"Since our leaders are behaving like children, we will have to take the responsibility they should have taken long ago," —16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg in a 2018 speech at the United Nations climate summit.
"Many people say that Sweden is just a small country, and it doesn't matter what we do. But I have learned you are never too small to make a difference." —Greta Thunberg
"Dear 19-Year-Old Laverne, I want you to know you are beautiful and you are not what all those people who don't understand you say about you." —actor and LGBTQ activist Laverne Cox in People magazine
On this International Day of the Girl, I’m thinking about all the gutsy girls who are changing the world—@GretaThunberg, @Emma4Change, @NaomiWadler, and @Malala, just to name a few—and all those who will. #DayOfTheGirl #GutsyWomen
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 11, 2019
"It's a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I'd be a drag queen." —Dolly Parton
"No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a third power stronger than both, that of women." —Nobel laureate and girls education activist Malala Yousafzai in her memoir "I Am Malala"
"We must intensify our resolve to change cultural practices that limit girls and women to specific roles in a thinly veiled attempt at keeping them steps below their male counterparts." —First lady of Rwanda Jeannette Kagame
"When we invest in women and girls, we are investing in the people who invest in everyone else." —Melinda Gates
"Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim." —writer Nora Ephron in a 1996 Wellesley College commencement address
"Who run the world? Girls." —Beyonce in "Run the World"
