Why in news?

• The Women & Child Development Ministry will celebrate National Girl Child Day (NGCD) on 24th January, 2019. The programme will also observe anniversary of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme.

Theme:

• The theme of this NGCD is “Empowering Girls for a Brighter Tomorrow” and celebrating with objectives of generating awareness on the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and create a positive environment around valuing the girl child.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP):

• BBBP Scheme is a Central Sector Scheme with 100% financial assistance for District level component and the fund are directly released to the DC/DM’s account for smooth operation of the Scheme.
• BBBP is a comprehensive programme to address the declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and related issues of empowerment of women over a life-cycle continuum.
• The Child Sex Ratio (CSR), defined as number of girls per 1000 boys in the age group of 0-6 years.
• The specific objectives of the scheme include preventing gender biased sex selective elimination; ensuring survival and protection of the girl child and ensuring education and participation of the girl child.

International day of the girl child: October 11:

• It is an international observance day declared by the United Nations; it is also called the Day of Girls and the International Day of the Girl.
• The observation supports more opportunity for girls and increases awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender.
• This inequality includes areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence against women and forced child marriage.