Int’l Day of the Girl Child: Human Services Ministry to launch “The StoryBoard Initiative”

Human Services and Social Security Minister Dr Vindhya Persaud, in an effort to empower girls and amplify their voices, will be launching “The StoryBoard Initiative” and a special edition of “Youth Unfiltered” as the Ministry joins the rest of the world in observing International Day of the Girl Child.

The day is observed on October 11 annually, and is used for recognising the importance, influence and budding talents of girls, and to also promote the opening up of more opportunities for them. The occasion is also designed to raise awareness of gender-based issues such as the digital divide, poor learning opportunities, violence, and exploitation of girls.
“Girls in our country must be actively involved in the conversations about their welfare and future, and be given the enabling environments in all spheres to develop their potentials.
“It must be our mission to equip a formidable generation of girls with every tool to make them architects of the world for tomorrow’s women,” Minister Dr. Persaud asserted in a statement.
“The StoryBoard Initiative” was conceptualised during a conversation with one of the Minister’s team members, Anuradha Persaud. This espouses the idea of imparting creative writing skills along with functional literacy to develop storyboards written by girls who had difficult lives but surmounted those challenges.
These inspirational stories would be published, and the proceeds accruing therefrom would be used for these young women’s wellbeing. A series of inspirational books is intended to be published over time. Each girl in the programme will be tutored for six weeks, and provided with a creative survival kit that includes a tablet, hygiene products, toiletries, stationery supplies, and a backpack to motivate and support them.
Teachers and journalists will be partnering with the Ministry of Human Services in the pilot programme, intended to be rolled out countrywide next year.
Dr. Persaud believes that ‘Youth Unfiltered’, a programme featuring young influencers who will discuss timely topics on the Ministry’s social media platforms, would help to ignite healthy discussions among girls across the country, heightening awareness of their challenges and proposing solutions as well as offering profiles of girls who have overcome hurdles and succeeded.
In her recently launched Women’s Innovation and Investment Network (WIIN) programme, a practical skills training programme for women and girls, Dr. Persaud included courses on Information Technology, garment construction, graphic designing, video editing, photography, and interior decorating.
This is used as a tangible solution to bridge the digital divide, as captured in the theme of this year’s celebration, “Digital generation. Our generation.” Dr. Persaud has said she is cognisant of the heavy dependence of this generation on digital technology to connect, learn, and network.