Girls Out Loud takes over the Internet

In the framework of the International Day of the Girl Child, the global project Girls Out Loud held a conversation: GOL GLOBAL TALK via Zoom with the participation of girls from 12 countries.

Girls Out Loud is a project of PLAN International, whose main objective is to offer safe and private online spaces for teenage girls and young women to talk and discuss issues relevant to them, get feedback from their peers, build community, and have the opportunity to learn about their rights and how to stay safe online.

To commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child 2021, Girls Out Loud held a global conversation via Zoom where representatives from 12 countries met to talk about online safety and violence. The meeting took place on October 14, with the participation of girls from Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Senegal, Peru, Benin, Colombia, Sierra Leone, the Philippines, Paraguay and Guatemala.

The host of the discussion was Deisy, a young activist, who started with PLAN International since she was a child, is currently part of PARTICECHA Girls Out Loud Colombia, as well as part of the global group of young influencers, part of the group of girls who drafted the open letter of the Girls Get Equal campaign last year and is currently an officer of the project in Colombia.

Deisy said: “Although we are from different countries and different cultures, we are connected and have more things in common than we can imagine. The global conversation is a space created by the girls, they will be the leaders of the conversation. We want this space to be repeated in the future to connect girls from different countries so they can share their experiences.

In order to achieve communication among the participants, due to their multiple languages and dialects, professional interpreters in Spanish, French and English translated in real time, and the participants could choose the language in which they wanted to listen.

As a result of this discussion, the girls talked about their experiences online, where they discussed the abuses and dangers that exist on the web, and also told their own experience with online violence, fake news and economic scams, which made the discussion became a space to provide solutions to common problems with which the girls feel identified.

They also called for the signing of the petition in solidarity with the girls who are speaking out about the spread of false information online. They are urgently calling on governments to educate children in digital literacy: “Girls, for their safety, must be able to distinguish what is true and all young women must be able to question information and check facts before believing and sharing them.

If you want to sign the petition click here: https://www.plan.org.co/firma-por-las-ninas/