Sun | Mar 29, 2026

JOA celebrates International Day of the Girl JOA celebrates International Day of the Girl

Published:Friday | October 11, 2019 | 12:36 AM
Havana Solaun (obscured) celebrates with her teammates moments after scoring the Reggae Girlz’s first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup goal during a game against Australia at Stade des Alpes in Grenoble, France, on Tuesday, June 18, 2019.
Gladstone Taylor
Havana Solaun (obscured) celebrates with her teammates moments after scoring the Reggae Girlz’s first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup goal during a game against Australia at Stade des Alpes in Grenoble, France, on Tuesday, June 18, 2019.

The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) has joined the United Nations (UN) in celebrating International Day of the Girl today.

International Day of the Girl was first celebrated in 2012 and the UN says it is a day to “recognise girls’ rights and the unique challenges they face across the world”.

The JOA says in a statement that it “and its Women in Sport Commission share in the mission of the United Nations Platform for Action in championing the advancement of the rights of women and girls.”

“Today, October 11, we join over 100 countries in celebrating International Day of the Girl. Under this year’s theme ‘GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable,’ we extol the achievements of all girls and especially girls in sport in Jamaica.

“Despite the challenges, many have achieved the unattainable across various sporting disciplines and are powerhouses in their own right. We salute the accomplishments of these and other girls on the rise in sport.

“All girls of our member Federations, we love and appreciate you and proudly stand at the ready in supporting your continued breaking of barriers as you are indeed Unscripted and Unstoppable.”

Nearly 25 years ago at the United Nations’ fourth World Conference for Women, held in Beijing, China, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action policy for the empowerment of women was adopted.

Since then, women have pushed this policy agenda, resulting in the expansion of a global movement organised by and for adolescent girls to deal with a broad spectrum of gender-based issues relating to girls.