Plan UK celebrates International Day of the Girl

Plan UK celebrates the first International Day of the Girl with a user-generated installation to showcase the potential of girls.

Global children’s charity Plan UK, which works with children in the world’s poorest countries, has created a one-off interactive public installation to raise awareness for the first ever International Day of the Girl on the 11th October.

The larger-than-life book is intended to highlight the importance of education for girls worldwide. 75 million girls across the world are denied the chance to complete their education and fulfil their potential, something that is often taken for granted in the UK.

Plan’s unique book installation is user-generated, reflecting the views of people across the country who will be sharing what their education has enabled them to do. The public are invited to sign the book and add their own personal message by telling Plan UK – “Because of Education I Can…”

In the week-long run up to International Day of the Girl, the book will travel up the country starting at London’s famous Tower of London on Thursday 4th October and heading to Manchester’s Exchange Square on Monday 8th October. The book will make its final stop at London’s Southbank on the first ever International Day of the Girl on 11th October. School girls from across London and Manchester will be invited to share their messages on how important education is to them and what it has helped them achieve, along with the UK public.

How you can support the ‘Raise Your Hand’ petition:

Plan UK is encouraging everyone to ‘Raise Your Hand’ for education and sign the petition to the UN Secretary General to make girls education a priority. For those who are unable to visit the book in London and Manchester, you can show your support online at www.facebook.com/PlanUK or join in the conversation and tweet #BecauseofeducationIcan to show your support and share what education has done for you. Right now, 75 million girls around the world are not in school, but you can help change this:

•an educated girl is more likely to survive into adulthood, marry later and have fewer, healthier children

•for each year that a girl stays in school, her future income rises and with opportunities to earn a living, she can pull herself and her children out of poverty

•an educated girl is more likely to understand her rights and be a force for change

DIY Digi Packs:

Plan UK has also produced downloadable social media skins and pictures for supporters across the world so they can show their support visually on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest with a variety of bespoke images for their backgrounds and profile images.