Unscripted & Unstoppable

In 2011, as the result of youth advocacy around the world, the United Nations declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl. It is a day when activist groups come together under the same goal: to highlight, discuss, and take action to advance rights and opportunities for girls everywhere by galvanizing "worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls' lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential."

The theme of this year's International Day of the Girl was "GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable," and celebrated achievements by, with, and for girls since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most comprehensive policy agenda for the empowerment of women to date. 

To recognize and honor this meaningful anniversary, Marlborough's Alumnae Council leaders joined students on campus for a day of awareness and advocacy.

"It was inspiring to see both the alumnae and the students learning and advocating together as our own unscripted and unstoppable girl force," said Meghan Bernstein, Alumnae Engagement Manager.

In addition to a presentation from the school's Girls Go Global club on the accomplishments and milestones in this realm over the past 25 years, the community signed postcards in support of the Keeping Girls in School Act, designed to ensure that U.S. foreign assistance addresses the barriers that keep more than 130 million school-aged girls around the world out of school.

"When I first head about the concept of International Day of the Girl, I found it upsetting that gender discrimination is so ubiquitous that the world needs an entire day dedicated to uplifting women," said Avery C. '20. "My goal as the Girls Go Global leader is to contribute to a global movement for gender equity through campaigns like the postcard-writing we did so that one day, gender imbalance will end and such a day will become obsolete."