By Kimberly Happich Moloche and Lara Eid, Good Shepherd International Justice and Peace
On October 10, the United Nations will open its doors for the International Day of the Girl Child 2025: Girls Speak Out, a bold and urgent gathering where girls from around the globe take the microphone—not as guests, but as leaders and advocates. In a world where political tensions, conflicts, and systemic inequalities continue to threaten the rights and futures of young people, this event could not be more critical. Girls Speak Out is not simply a symbolic celebration; it is a powerful policy intervention designed to demand accountability from those in power.
The Good Shepherd International Justice and Peace (GSIJP) team, as members of the Working Group on Girls, has played a central role in shaping this year’s program. Our team has been actively engaged in the planning process, working to ensure that girls’ priorities are not only heard but elevated to the global stage.
Our Associate, Lara Eid, has been leading the coordination with girl advocates, supporting them in structuring the program so that their lived realities are front and center. At the same time, our Main NGO Representative, Kimberly Happich Moloche, has recently been elected Co-Chair of the Working Group on Girls, a role that reflects the trust placed in Good Shepherd’s leadership and strengthens our capacity to advocate for transformative change for girls.
This year’s Girls Speak Out carries the theme, “We Are Here: Bold, Diverse, and Unstoppable – Demanding Action for Girls’ Rights.” Girls will lead a dynamic, intergenerational dialogue with UN Member States and agencies. Attendees will hear stories from girls claiming their role as agents of peace and protection. They will listen firsthand from girls, defying discrimination and reclaiming their power in the face of marginalization, digital exclusion, and harmful practices. Beyond testimony, this space prioritizes accountability: Member States and UN agencies will be called upon to make commitments that respond directly to the priorities girls themselves have articulated.
The Girls Speak Out matters because it takes place during a time of urgency. Across the globe, girls are facing escalating threats: rollbacks in education rights, rising gender-based violence, shrinking civic spaces, and deepening inequalities intensified by conflict and climate change. In the current political climate, where commitments to human rights are too often delayed, diluted, or ignored, this event reminds us that the voices of girls cannot be postponed or sidelined. The Girls Speak Out is a place where courage meets accountability, where storytelling becomes strategy, and where demands become commitments.
We invite you to join us in solidarity with girls everywhere by tuning in live on UN Web TV on October 10, 2025, at 16:00 hours (CET / Rome time). Listen to their stories, hear their demands, and commit with us to ensure that when girls speak, the world responds.
Together, we are unstoppable!
