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Join the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) 24 hour International Women's Day chat here.

We need your support inspiring tomorrow's future leaders. Please DONATE to WAGGGS.

Why is WAGGGS internationalwomensday.com's preferred partner?

50% of the page advertising revenue from internationalwomensday.com is kindly donated to WAGGGS annually.

Girls are change agents for the future. By internationalwomensday.com drawing the world's attention to the inclusion of girls in all IWD activity globally, many more minds will be inspired, barriers broken and expectations for fulfilling potential realised. Girl Guides and Girl Scouts are tomorrow's women leaders.

Globally there are thousands of women's charities, many of which are truly outstanding in their achievements. It would not be appropriate for internationalwomensday.com to select one global women's charity over another as they all are relevant, different and geographically suited. Global charities like Womankind Worldwide, Women For Women International, the EQUALS Partnership and more are all very impressive and effective. Girl's leadership and equality link all women's charities and with ten million girls from 145 countries across the world, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is the largest voluntary movement dedicated to girls and young women in the world.

WAGGGS' Global Action Theme is "together we can change our world". This mindset is pertinent to International Women's Day. WAGGGS provides girls in almost every country across the world with values-based training in life skills, leadership and citizenship. They address and educate girls about issues like aids, violence, leadership, community involvement and responsibility, teamwork, environmentalism and much more. They are the charity we urge you to donate your International Women's Day events proceeds and fundraising efforts to if you have not yet identified a women's charity.

Maybe you have a daughter, granddaughter or niece who would greatly value from being a Girl Guide?

About the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS)

With ten million Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from 145 countries across the world, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is the largest voluntary movement dedicated to girls and young women in the world.

The World Association supports girls and young women to develop their full potential as responsible citizens of the world. WAGGGS focuses on leadership development and active citizenship. These are delivered through innovative global education and community and advocacy programs WAGGGS delivers a well-established, unique values-based approach to non-formal learning, which is international and intergenerational. Girls and young women develop life skills through self-development, challenge and adventure.

There are five WAGGGS' regions – Africa, Arab, Asia Pacific, Europe and Western Hemisphere and four World Centres: Our Chalet in Switzerland, Sangam in India, Pax Lodge in UK and Our Cabaña in Mexico. The World Centres are residential and training centres where girls and young women develop leadership skills through international programs and friendships. WAGGGS is also working on the 5th World Centre Pilot project in Africa, exploring how WAGGGS can bring a World Centre experience using existing facilities in Africa. The 'centre' has no fixed site but changes location at every event, bringing international experiences for girls and young women in different countries in Africa.

The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum

In line with internationalwomensday.com's 2013 theme "The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum", WAGGGS do not only participate in global discussion affecting Girls and Young Women, WAGGGS involves them in the discussion by providing them with advocacy skills and creating opportunities for them to meet with world level decision makers, business representatives and other Civil Society Organisations at events such as the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

On 11 October 2012 WAGGGS celebrated the world's first International Day of the Girl. To celebrate this day, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts invited people around the world to help create "The world we want for girls".

People from over 50 countries drew, wrote, filmed, photographed and then shared their vision of the world we want for girls on WAGGGS' blog site.

Events in over 30 countries marked the day, from roundtables on human rights in Rwanda to girls' empowerment marches in Zimbabwe, to the launch of a new advocates programme for girls in Australia, to young women in Madagascar talking about ending violence on a global Google hangout with UN Women.

Through our global survey, we now understand that over 50 per cent of girls find that where they live it is sometimes, often or usually difficult to be a girl and nearly 45 per cent of people think it is more difficult for girls to reach their full potential than it is for boys.

It was a good start. But 11 October 2012 is only the beginning. We want to inspire action from governments, institutions, corporations, NGOs and individuals for the 365 days between each Day of the Girl.

Because it will take more than one day to create the world we want for girls. That is why on 8 March 2013, the International Women's Day, WAGGGS is organizing a 24 hour chat to increase awareness on girls' and young women's rights, gather recommendations from around the world on how to make these rights a reality and contribute to the World We Want for Girls! Crossing eight time zones from the Philippines to Costa Rica, eight young women will moderate discussions on education for girls, violence against girls and young women, decent job opportunities for young women and girls’ and young women's participation in the development of the post-2015 agenda. The young women will be joined by guest speakers – experts in each field. Join us – visit the 24 chat page to find out how to participate.

24 hour chat is part of a larger initiative by WAGGGS – a Call to Action to create a better world for girls. By 11 October 2013, the World Association wants one million actions to have been taken to help create the world we want for girls. We want to inspire action from everyone from governments, institutions, and corporations to NGOs and individuals.

Add your actions to our activity log or send them to idg@wagggs.org. We want this call to action to inspire a community to work together to create the world we want for girls. Where we all work to our strengths and overcome our challenges. Where we identify what girls want and what works to get it for them.

One year. One million actions. One world we want for girls.

Start today, join and support WAGGGS. Because imagining a perfect world for girls is not enough. We must now make it a reality.

The Global Girls Fund was launched by WAGGGS to mark the Movement's centenary celebrations.

WAGGGS believes that investing in the future of every girl and young women is key to achieving healthy, fair and productive societies. Action by girls and young women should be at the heart of designing the World They Want.

The Global Girls Fund was established to provide the means to empower each and every girl with whom WAGGGS is in contact, through a 3 step process:

• Increasing sense of self by offering girls and young women peer support and a place to belong, so that they can create a safe space in which they can start to explore issues that affect them and those around them.
• Increasing sense of confidence by helping girls and young women develop as leaders, empowering them to become active in their world and agents of their own destiny.
• Increasing sense of impact by teaching girls and young women about effective advocacy: educating them on core issues and giving them a platform on which to speak out on issues that affect them and those around them – so that the voice of the girl can be better heard.

Through the Global Girls Fund WAGGGS aims to raise £10 million by June 2014 in order to create and develop related projects and programmes that will ensure each and every girl has the opportunity she deserves to research her fullest potential.

Support girls and young women now – help them making the World We Want a reality. Visit http://www.theglobalgirlsfund.com/en/howyoucandonate to see how you can donate.

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