On International Day of the Girl in October, a group of 40 inspirational changemakers met together at the first ever UK Girl Gathering. This event gave participants, including CEOs, ministers, youth workers and activists from across the country, an opportunity to share what God is doing among girls in the UK. It was a unique time of dreaming, sharing, hoping and looking forward. We discussed some tough questions: what are the challenges facing girls? Where are the seeds of hope that God is planting? Is God calling us to collaborate together to raise the volume of hope for girls?
Some argue that there has never been a better time to be a girl in the UK. But while institutional barriers to equality may have been removed, deep-rooted cultural ones remain – including in some parts of Church. Many young women are being denied their value as God’s image bearers as a result of sexism, violence, abuse and discrimination.
Supporters of UK Girl Initiative want to live in a world where every girl is championed, valued and able to fulfil her God-given potential. Hope is not just a word, it spurs us to action. It fuels us to be so dissatisfied with the status quo that we’ll be the change that we want to see in the world. The UK Girl Manifesto, launching on 8th March, helps us put hope into action:
- Believing young women can lead and inspire us, shape their generation, transform culture and make a difference to the world around us.
- Investing in girls and women by equipping them to be authentic Christian leaders in the Church and beyond.
- Cultivating ‘identity capital’ in girls by spreading a message of value and worth and providing platforms that enable good news stories of worth and value to be told for, about and with young women.
- Encouraging churches and organisations to lead by example on gender equality and championing women as leaders.
- Communicating the voice of girls – their hopes, concerns and frustrations – to the wider church.
We want to help churches and organisations sign-up and commit to focusing on one of the UK Girl Manifesto goals in 2016. Tangible ways of doing this are provided on ukgirl.jimdo.com.
For more information about our UK Girl Equipping Day (International Day of the Girl) and other Girls Brigade initiatives, visit girlsb.org.uk. Please come and join us in this journey. Let’s raise hope for girls together.
Dr Claire Rush, Advocacy co-ordinator, Girls’ Brigade Ministries
