October 11 is International Day of the Girl, a day of action to raise awareness about gender inequality around the globe. To celebrate, Project Everyone, a non-profit agency partnered with the UN, UNICEF, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, released a video called #FreedomForGirls. The 3-minute video features young girls across the world dancing to Beyonce's song "Freedom.""This year's film is defiant and demanding change, shown through the lens of the young girls in the film who are here to shake things up and demonstrate how it's up to this generation to ensure the Global Goals are met," the short's director, MJ Delaney said in a statement. Delaney also directed last year's video, which used the Spice Girls girl-power anthem "Wannabe."The video was created to support the UN's Global Goals for sustainable development, which were implemented in 2015 with the hope of solving the world's most urgent challenges. One of the goals is making gender equality a reality by highlighting ways to empower women and young girls and bringing attention to the injustices they face.If the Global Goals are to be met then gender-based discrimination and persecution must be addressed. According to the Global Partnership and Fund to End Violence Against Children, every five minutes a girl dies as a result of violence. Other troubling statistics that disproportionately affect women are that 71 percent of human trafficking victims are female, they're twice as likely to be infected by HIV/AIDS and at least 130 million girls don't receive a formal education.If you want to learn more about the global goals and how you can move the needle forward on these pressing issues, here's how you can get involved.
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Beyoncé Leads Protest Anthem in New Short Film for Gender Equality
#FreedomForGirls was made in celebration of the International Day of the Girl.
