LET'S NOT LEAVE ANY GIRL UNEDUCATED, LET'S NOT LEAVE ANY GIRL WHO DOES NOT LIVE IN SAFETY

October 11 International Day of the Girl Child was started to be celebrated with the decision taken by the United Nations in 2012.

While we approach our girls with love on October 11 International Day of the Girl Child, we also draw attention to the fact once again that they should live in safety and grow up with secular, scientific, mixed and public education. It should not be forgotten that the development of a country is possible by being a free society where the women and girls of the country can realize themselves and control their own lives.

As ÇYDD, we have continued on our path since 1997 by saying "Let's not leave any  girl uneducated!". As of 2024, we have touched the lives of 107,074 high school girls with scholarships .

Economic problems mostly hinder girls' right to education. We witness that the inequality of opportunity experienced by girls in their lives and education is deepening every day. Unfortunately, girls are still not sent to school and this inequality is growing day by day. Moreover, in such difficult times, the importance of children studying in public schools, having free school meals, hygienic learning conditions and access to healthy water is becoming more apparent.

Girls do not only experience inequality of opportunity in education, but unfortunately they are also victims of various crimes. According to the 2024 data of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), “(…) Of the 217,915 children who came or were brought to security units as victims of crime, 61.3\% were victims of injuries, 11.8\% of sexual crimes, 8.6\% of crimes against family order, 4.4\% of threats and 13.9\% of other reasons were victims.” The data shows us the terrible truth, thousands of children are injured, thousands of children are subjected to sexual crimes…

Similarly, TÜİK data shows that 11,177 children were married in 2023 according to official figures and more than 2 million girls have given birth since 2001.

Finally, with the changes made to the Regulation on Access to Education by Transportation published by the Ministry of National Education, students who are more than 30 kilometers away from the educational institution are placed in regional boarding secondary schools and boarding schools;this creates concerns about the future of the students, considering the danger of religious sect and religious community structures in the dormitories. It is clear that restricting access to education by transportation will affect most the girls who are not wanted to be sent to school.

Changes in the education system such as the 4+4+4 education system, ÇEDES(school activities organized by the directorate of religious affairs), and the Turkish Education Model, on the other hand, distance our schooled children from accessing secular, scientific and republican education.

As ÇYDD, we are trying to implement our projects all over our country against this bad picture in education and the inequality that girls suffer. As part of the October 11 International Day of the Girl Child events, we will come together with all our children, especially our girls, at Adıyaman Democracy Park and Diyarbakır Park 75 Event Area at 14:00.

With the principle of “being part of the solution, not the problem”, we have been fighting for secular, scientific, mixed and public education for 35 years. From now on, we will continue to work to realize our dream of a bright Republic of Türkiye where girls can realize themselves, direct their lives and walk the streets safely and freely.