World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts mobilizes to #EmbraceEquity

 March 13, 2023

International Women's Day (IWD) provides an important opportunity for the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), the world's largest voluntary movement dedicated to empowering girls and young women. WAGGGS represents 8.9 million girls and young women from 152 countries, and their IWD activity is certainly considerable and impactful.

In support of IWD, WAGGGS reinforces its commitment to educating and empowering girls and young women, while continuing to raise awareness about the many barriers impacting women and girls.

Here we see an engaging video created by WAGGGS Member Organisation, Pakistan Girl Guides Association, featuring their collective solidarity and activity as they worked to reinforce the #EmbraceEquity IWD campaign theme.

Striking the #EmbraceEquity pose, women and girls from across Pakistan pledged their commitment to individually and collectively work to forge a better world for women and girls. Their aim is to help raise awareness about the need to address the many barriers impacting the rights and leadership of women and girls. 

Some of their inspiring pledges in the video include:

• "I will maintain a gender equal mindset"
• "We will call out gendered actions and assumptions"
• "We will forge positive visibility of women"
• "We will challenge gender stereotypes, discrimination and bias" 
• "We will try and influence others' beliefs and actions"
• "We will strive to make equity a reality, not just a buzzword" 
• "We will celebrate women's achievements"

The pledges provide an effective way to educate people worldwide on how they can #EmbraceEquity, while opening up conversations and raising awareness around gender-related topics. The pledges are tangible and actionable, so real and long-lasting change can better impact the lives of women and girls.

Pakistan is part of the WAGGGS Asia Pacific Region that supports 3.6 million members across 26 national Girl Guide and Girl Scouts organizations. The Asia Pacific Region works to grow its membership, empower girls and young women to be leaders, promote diversity, and to ensure good governance.

The Asia Pacific region is incredibly diverse and is a constantly-growing region spanning countries from Pakistan in the west to Cook Islands in the east, from Mongolia in the north to New Zealand in the south.

Celebrating the achievements of millions of girls and women worldwide

"Our partnership with International Women's Day is a very important partnership for us. It provides us with an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of millions of girls and women worldwide and also to come together across sectors, to raise awareness of the need for greater progress on gender equality, and to channel vital funding to where it's needed most. Through Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting, we are breaking gender bias, discrimination, and stereotypes, and we are supporting our girls and young women to do the same,” says WAGGGS Chief Executive Officer, Anna Segall. 

"We are helping girls fight for a world where they can live free from violence. We are enabling girls to call out discrimination and draw attention to bias. And we are helping raise generations of girls with the confidence to live their lives how they decide. Our role is to give girls and young women the knowledge, tools and confidence to realise this equal world where all girls can thrive. And we know that with the right support and resourcing this isn’t an unrealistic vision," adds the CEO.

WAGGGS is a long-time IWD Charity of Choice. 

Bringing together the WAGGGS community 

The IWD 2023 #EmbraceEquity campaign theme resonates with WAGGGS. As a girl-led movement, the organization continues to drive equity for girls and women across the world, and it does this through many different WAGGGS’s programs and campaigns, some of which strongly address equity within the digital space.

Covering five global regions, WAGGGS mobilized its far-reaching community to #EmbraceEquity in many innovative ways.

The world's largest organization dedicated to girls

WAGGGS supports 8.9 million girls and young women across 152 countries, making it the world's largest international organisation dedicated to girls and young women. As the global umbrella organisation for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, WAGGGS provides girls with an opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge that she needs to raise her voice, defend her ideas and contribute to shaping a better world.

As the only movement geared entirely toward every girl and any girl, Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting puts gender equality at its heart. Through non-formal education programmes, girls learn to challenge gender-based violence, tackle body confidence issues and speak out on global platforms to influence key decision makers.

Whether putting an end to child marriage in Malaysia, helping refugees in Greece, or speaking out on sustainability at UN events or supporting communities following natural disaster in Australia, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts play a huge role in making change happen.

Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting creates generations of happy, capable and daring girls. WAGGGS keeps the global Movement united, thriving and growing.

With your support, WAGGGS can tackle gender discrimination, call out bias and stereotyping, seek inclusion and continue to challenge the structures and attitudes which prevent girls and women fulfilling their potential as equal citizens of the world. 

WAGGGS can also create a better world for girls and young women; empowering them to become future leaders, responsible citizens and true changemakers.

"The vital funding we receive from our International Women’s Day partners enables more opportunities for more girls so that ultimately every and any girl can learn, lead and speak out, and achieve their fullest potential," adds WAGGGS Head of Strategic Partnerships, Imogen Fitzpatrick.

Donate now to change a girl's future, and change the world.