Editor’s Note: On September 21, 2024, in New York City, more than 50 young women from around the world – including the youngest Nobel Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai – gathered to take United Nations member states to task for failing to prioritize girls and young women in the planning and content of the upcoming Summit of the Future.
At a demonstration in front of the UN, surrounded by life-size cutouts of world leaders dressed ironically as youthful “girl experts”, the activists delivered a strong message: world leaders aren’t the experts on what girls want and need for their futures – girls are.
The group is backed by an informal coalition of girl-centered non-profit organizations, institutions, networks, and funds who worked to synthesize the well-documented policy, programming, and resourcing demands of girls at WhatGirlsWant.com
Sania Hammad speaks at the What Girls Want demonstration where more than 50 young women from around the world– including the youngest Nobel Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai (left)–to remind World Leaders that they are not experts on what girls need—girls are!
Sania Hammad, 19, an alumna of our Girl Activist Fellowship, spoke at the demonstration:
I am a girl.
At seven years old I stopped wearing dresses to school, I took my long brown hair and stuffed it into a ponytail, I stopped hanging around with other girls, all so the boys would stop picking on me for being too “girly.”
I am a girl.
I stay on the phone with my parents during my entire walk home so they would know to call someone if something were to happen to me.
I am a girl.
I’m never truly alone on the streets because there is always someone lurking nearby ready to shout some lewd comments my way.
I am a girl.
I have all my female friends’ locations on my phone.
I am a girl.
I have left many functions because someone around me started getting too handsy.
I am a girl.
Entire campaigns have to be started to get people to start to listen to my voice.
I am a girl.
I have to stand here and scream at the United Nations to give me a seat at a table.
I am a girl.
I am part of a unified group of sisters who are done asking permission. We are here to claim what is rightfully ours. The table will always be stronger when it is shared.
Girls are not only the future; we are the present. We are already facing today’s challenges, from the impacts of climate change to disparities in education. Who is more qualified to help solve these issues than those of us experiencing them directly? Whether it’s girls in Palestine, enduring the horrors of genocide; in Ukraine, navigating the brutal realities of war; in states like Alabama or Texas where women cannot access lifesaving procedures due the abortion bans; or in Afghanistan having their rights stripped away from them by the Taliban; girl’s voices and perspectives are essential for creating real, lasting solutions to the crises we face.
I urge each of you to reflect on the girls in your own lives—your daughters, sisters, mothers, students, or friends—and to hold our leaders accountable in finally giving them a seat at the table where their voices can be heard and valued.
And yes,
I am a girl.
My voice will be heard.
Sania Hammad, 19, is a student at Barnard College of Columbia University where she serves as the president of the sophomore class. Along with serving as the president, she is the founder of Sate Crate, a nonprofit with the goal to stave off hunger in southern Missouri and southeast Kansas. She works with various grassroots organizations, is the co-author of a children’s book, has made nationally recognized documentaries, and has hosted many fundraising events in the past. She is an alumna of the first cohort of She’s the First Girl Activist Fellowship.