[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 198 (Thursday, October 13, 2016)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 70919-70921]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-24999]


 
 
                         Presidential Documents 
 
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 198 / Thursday, October 13, 2016 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 70919]]


                Proclamation 9522 of October 7, 2016

                
International Day of the Girl, 2016

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                No matter where she lives, every girl on this planet 
                deserves the chance to learn and grow, to develop her 
                mind and her talents, and to live a life of her own 
                choosing. Although we have made life significantly 
                better for our daughters than it was for our mothers 
                and grandmothers, in too many parts of the world, girls 
                are still undervalued, disrespected, abused, and 
                prevented from contributing to society. On 
                International Day of the Girl, we recognize our 
                obligation to lift up women and girls at home and 
                abroad and to build a world where all girls feel safe 
                and empowered in their classrooms, their communities, 
                and their homes.

                My Administration is committed to combating gender 
                disparities, and through the White House Council on 
                Women and Girls, we have made it a priority to consider 
                the needs of women and girls in our policies, laws, and 
                programs. Today, more American women have the freedom 
                to make their own choices about their lives--about 
                their bodies, their education, their career. The 
                Affordable Care Act has ensured that more girls have 
                access to quality, affordable health care and that no 
                health insurer can charge them more simply because of 
                their gender. By encouraging the media to depict more 
                examples of women in science, technology, engineering, 
                and math (STEM) fields--and by working to expand access 
                to STEM classes and careers, particularly computer 
                science--we are striving to address inequalities in 
                education. We will continue to pursue policies that 
                advance gender equality here at home, from equal pay 
                for equal work to protecting reproductive rights, 
                because while some girls have never had more 
                opportunities, there are still many who remain in the 
                toughest of circumstances.

                Under the leadership of Vice President Joe Biden, we 
                are working to put an end to violence against women, 
                and we have launched a movement to fight sexual assault 
                and support survivors. Through the White House Task 
                Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault and the 
                ``It's On Us'' campaign, we are shining a light on the 
                unconscionable rates of sexual assault against teens 
                and young adults in primary and secondary schools and 
                on college campuses. My Administration recently 
                announced new guidance and resources to help district 
                administrators and educators prevent and appropriately 
                deal with sexual assault in K-12 settings. We have also 
                provided guidance to educators on ways to address 
                harassment and discrimination of students in school 
                settings, including transgender girls and women--who 
                too often face bullying and abuse that harm their 
                education. The Department of Justice also released 
                guidance to identify and prevent gender bias in law 
                enforcement responses to sexual assault and domestic 
                violence cases. And because 84 percent of American 
                Indian and Alaska Native women and girls will 
                experience some form of violence in their lifetimes, we 
                have protected the ability of tribes to prosecute non-
                Native perpetrators of domestic violence in Indian 
                Country through provisions included in the 2013 
                reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

                As we work to expand opportunities here in the United 
                States, we must also look abroad and acknowledge that 
                any country that oppresses half of its population--that 
                prevents women and girls from going to school

[[Page 70920]]

                or work or refuses to give them control over their 
                bodies or safety from gender-motivated abuse--is not a 
                society that can thrive. The ideologies that harm girls 
                and prevent them from fulfilling their potential are 
                the same ideologies that have led countries to 
                instability, violence, and terrorism. That is why 
                earlier this year, we launched the U.S. Global Strategy 
                to Empower Adolescent Girls--a strategy aimed at 
                bringing Federal agencies together to comprehensively 
                improve the lives of girls around the world, safeguard 
                their rights, and encourage their full social, 
                political, and economic participation. To specifically 
                focus on the challenge of adolescent girls' education, 
                First Lady Michelle Obama and I launched the Let Girls 
                Learn initiative, through which we are working with 
                companies, organizations, and foreign governments to 
                help give adolescent girls around the world the chance 
                to go to school--because a world in which all girls 
                have access to an education is a safer, fairer, and 
                more stable place. The initiative includes more than a 
                billion dollars for funding new and ongoing programming 
                in more than 50 countries to help adolescent girls 
                attend and stay in school. And the White House will 
                soon host the first meeting of the North American 
                Working Group on Violence against Indigenous Women and 
                Girls to champion regional coordination on the rights 
                of women and girls from indigenous communities across 
                North America.

                Around the world--from Africa to Southeast Asia to 
                Latin America--we are striving to improve girls' 
                welfare, build their skills, and promote their 
                participation as the next generation of leaders. We are 
                working to prevent and respond to violence against 
                women and girls in fragile settings as well as support 
                refugees and displaced persons around the world. We are 
                undertaking targeted efforts to address child, early, 
                and forced marriage, and we are investing in new 
                programs, including survivor-led programs, to end 
                female genital mutilation and cutting in seven 
                countries across Southeast Asia and West Africa. In 
                sub-Saharan Africa, we are helping adolescent girls pay 
                for and attend school, while ensuring they learn about 
                HIV and violence prevention. We have sponsored ``Women 
                in Science'' camps in Peru and Rwanda to give girls 
                abroad the opportunity to learn how to use technology 
                to improve their communities. We are also working with 
                Pakistan to advance women's economic participation and 
                entrepreneurship and launch the country's first ``Take 
                Your Daughter to Work Day.'' And we remain committed to 
                ending human trafficking and have taken unprecedented 
                steps to provide comprehensive services to victims, 
                bring traffickers to justice, apply new technologies to 
                combat modern slavery, and provide training and promote 
                awareness at home and abroad.

                This summer, 5,000 leaders from around the world 
                gathered at the first ever United State of Women Summit 
                to highlight the work we have done and to build an 
                agenda for the future. But we know there is still more 
                to do, and I have made advancing gender equality a 
                foreign policy priority to ensure we can continue 
                removing barriers that prevent women from reaching 
                their full potential. More than our policies, we must 
                commit to changing the culture that raises our 
                daughters to be demure or criticizes them for speaking 
                out--and to changing the attitude that permits the 
                routine harassment of women and girls, whether walking 
                down the street or going online. We are working with 
                communities and businesses that are rethinking 
                workplace policies, funding women entrepreneurs, 
                expanding female leadership, and creating more 
                opportunities for women and girls who too often face 
                disproportionate challenges--including women and girls 
                of color, women and girls with disabilities, and 
                lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women and girls--
                because everyone has a role to play and everybody 
                deserves the chance to pursue their dreams.

                This is the future we are forging: Where women and 
                girls, no matter what they look like or where they are 
                from, can live free from the fear of violence. A future 
                where all girls know they can hold any job, run any 
                company, and compete in any field. Today, we recommit 
                ourselves to the belief that when everyone has the 
                opportunity to go to school, explore their passions, 
                and achieve their dreams, our communities are stronger, 
                more resilient,

[[Page 70921]]

                and better positioned for peace and prosperity. Let us 
                keep working to build a world that is more just and 
                free--because nothing should stand in the way of strong 
                girls with bold dreams.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim October 11, 2016, as 
                International Day of the Girl. I call upon the people 
                of the United States to observe this day with programs, 
                ceremonies, and activities that advance equality and 
                opportunity for girls everywhere.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and forty-first.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2016-24999
Filed 10-12-16; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F7-P