Beyond the statistics of girls making up almost half of the global population, they remain an integral part of society because of the potential of their impacts if properly educated or given the right platform.
Across the world, there are girls transforming communities and questioning the narratives. Some of the remarkable girls making a difference in their communities and the world at large include;
1. Amariyanna “Mari” Copeny (16)
“My generation will fix this mess of a government. Watch us.”
Mari also known as Little Miss Flint, is an African-American children and environmental activist as well as the founder of Flint Kids, a non-profit organization that provides clean water and other resources to the children of Flint, Michigan.
Born on July 6, 2007, when she was only 8, Mari wrote a letter to former US President Barack Obama over the water crisis in her hometown of Flint, Michigan. As a result, Obama visited the community and authorized $100 million to handle the crisis.
Since then, Flint has held several fundraising campaigns and collected donations for bottled water, student fees, backpacks, school supplies, and movie merchandise for the underprivileged amongst others.
In 2022, at the Billboard Music Awards, she was honored with the 3rd Change Maker Award for her work in environmental advocacy.
2. Zuriel Oduwole (21)
“I want to try and find more ways to get girls into schools.”
Zuriel is a renowned Nigerian-American filmmaker, an activist for girls’ education, and the co-founder of the DUSUSU Foundation, which provides educational aid to girls in Africa. Her humanitarian work in the area of education has earned her a sit among 31 world leaders around the world including Michelle Obama and the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Born in Los Angeles, California in July 2002, at the age of 10, Zuriel made a documentary film about Africa titled The Ghana Revolution. She held her first interviews with two former Ghana presidents, Jerry Rawlings, and John Kufuor, earning her a profile on Forbes Magazine.
Since then, her accomplishments have been countless. According to her, her parents had always encouraged her to explore new things, learn, and communicate her ideas. She highlighted that they made sure she watched the news across the world. When she first saw young children on the streets selling things when they should have been in school, she knew she had to do something.
In 2017, she received an honor from the US Secretary of State John Kerry for advocating against child marriages and for girls’ education.
3. Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (20)
“I have learned you are never too small to make a difference.”
Greta is a Swedish climate activist who founded the Fridays for Future movement and inspired millions of young people around the world to take action on climate change. As such many refer to it as “the Greta effect”.
Born on 3rd January 2003, at the age of 15, Greta held her first “School Strike for Climate” outside the Swedish parliament. Between year 2019 and 2020, she dropped out of school to focus on environmental activism, addressing the European Parliament and the UN climate action summit in New York.
She has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize from 2019 to 2023, and in 2019 was recognized as the youngest-ever Time Person of the Year.
4. Stacey Fru (16)
“… I read a lot, which has helped me with my writing.”
Stacey is a South African author, activist, philanthropist, edutainer, and the founder of The Stacey Fru Foundation, which provides educational and mentorship aid to children from poor backgrounds.
Born on 16 February 2007Africa’s youngest published author. Since then, Stacey has written four books, all of which sold internationally. They include “Smelly Cats on Vacation”, “Tim’s Answer”, and “Where Is Tammy?”.
Stacey has received numerous accolades for her work, including the African Child Award for Creative Writing and Social Impact, the Egyptian President El Sisi’s acknowledgment as the ‘Youngest Promising and Most Inspiring Arab African Youth’, and The Global Child Prodigy Award.
5. Amika George (24)
Amika George is a British-Indian activist and founder of #FreePeriods, a campaign that works to end period poverty in the UK and around the world.
Born on 4 October 1999, when she was just 17 years old, Amika launched #FreePeriods after reading an article about girls in the UK who were missing school because they couldn’t afford period products. Afterward, she began a petition to the UK government to provide free menstrual products to all girls on free school meals.
The petition soon gained momentum, and within a few months, she secured over 200,000 signatures. A protest that she organized outside Downing Street, had over 2,000 people.
Finally, in 2019, the UK government announced that it would be providing free menstrual products for girls in all schools and colleges in England. This was a major victory for Amika and the #FreePeriods campaign.
Her work has been recognized by many organizations. She was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2018, and she received the Goalkeepers Campaign Award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
6. Malala Yousafzai (26)
My father always said, ‘Malala will be free as a bird.’
Malala is a renowned Pakistani female education activist, and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, as well as the co-founder of the Malala Fund, a non-profit organization that provides girls with access to 12 years of free, quality education.
Born on 12 July 1997, in 2012 Malala was only 15 when she was shot in the head by the Taliban. In 2009, at the age of 11, she began writing a blog for BBC Urdu about her life under Taliban rule and her desire for an education, which earned her an award for the National Youth Peace Prize by the Pakistani government for her activism. After her successful surgery in the UK, In 2013, she published her autobiography, I Am Malala, which became an international bestseller.
Remarkably, in 2014, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Kailash Satyarthi for their work in promoting children’s education.
As a result of her extensive work globally, she has been attributed numerous awards and accolades.
These are just a few of the great girls around the world making a difference. The achievements of these ladies show us that the extent to which girls can command action and transformation in any sector is substantial when they exhibit fearlessness.
