Women Of The World Festival Celebrate International Day Of The Girl 2022 With Mass Mentoring Event On The London Eye

Today, WOW - Women of the World Festival celebrated International Day of the Girl 2022 by bringing together 180 inspiring women and 180 secondary school students on The lastminute.com London Eye to share their dreams and ambitions as they soar over London.

WOW - Women of the World is a global movement and festival promoting gender equality and celebrating women, girls and non-binary people, run by UK charity The WOW Foundation. Since 2012, 11th October has been marked as International Day of the Girl to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls' empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights.

This unique WOW event offers 180 secondary school girls (aged 13 to 19-years old) from 27 schools and community groups across London and beyond the unique opportunity to meet 180 highly influential and inspiring women including: WOW Founder and CEO Jude Kelly, activist and author of Everyday Sexism Laura Bates, Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy, Oxford City Cabinet member Shaista Aziz, The Triple Cripples' Jumoke Abdullahi, Ward Councillor London Borough of Lambeth Sonia Winifred, CEO for Refuge Ruth Davison and the CEO for Bloody Good Period Rachel Grocott.

Each student was matched with three different mentors for 15-minute mentoring sessions during two complete rotations of The London Eye. The mentors joined from a wide range of professional backgrounds and industries from leaders of huge international companies such as Amazon, Google, YouTube, the Tate, Mastercard and Bloomberg, and women who are MPs, Local Coucillors, founders of charities and campaign organisations like End Violence Against Women, as well as journalists, poets, actors, theatre makers and more. Crossing sectors of science, finance, arts, politics, media and more, the students were able to have a snapshot into the ways in which women and non binary people are paving the way for the future.

Imran Tauqir, General Manager of The lastminute.com London Eye, said:

"We're delighted to support The WOW Foundation in hosting this special event for International Day of the Girl. Now in the 10th year of our partnership with WOW we are proud to join in celebrating the importance, power and potential of girls around the world. As a global symbol of innovation it's fitting that today the lastminute.com London Eye is a stage for young women exploring their dreams and aspirations. We hope the unique perspectives opened up by the views of our capital will provide inspiration for the girls on this important day."

Jude Kelly, WOW Founder & CEO said:

"On the 10th anniversary of International Day of the Girl, WOW - Women of the World pays tribute to the extraordinary courage of Iranian school girls as they insist on their right to be equal. Inspired by youthful voices WOW celebrates, platforms and nurtures the amazing activists of the future, with our third annual Young Leaders Directory featuring girls as young as 11 such as climate change activist Licypriya Devi Kangujam and trans activist Kai Shappley. We also held our annual London Eye speed mentoring event, where secondary school girls get the chance to talk to inspirational and influential women in a variety of industries.

We are at a time where political, economical and social injustice faced by young girls and women is at an unprecedented level. From the tragic death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, and the Taliban erasing the rights of women and girls to the cost of living disproportionately impacting women's safety and income. In these bleak moments, we see hope in young activists standing up for gender equality across the globe. By creating these unique WOW experiences, we hope to provide a space for these young girls and non binary people to change our world and their future for the better."

As part of their International Day of the Girl celebrations WOW have also launched the next edition of their Young Leaders Directory. The directory includes 30 young women aged 11-21 who are known for their work - both in their home countries and globally - in areas including climate justice, period poverty, girls education, sexual violence, disability, race, health and more. Presented in partnership with Purposeful, WOW held two private virtual convenings this weekend to bring together these activists to connect, share ideas and learn from one another to help establish a new network. A global online directory is available now to explore on the WOW website to provide these 30 leaders with a platform to share their work with girls all over the world. The inaugural global directory, launched in 2020, can be accessed here and 2021 accessed here.

For International Day of the Girl, WOW will also be taking over Mulberry School for Girls on Friday 14 October for a special one day WOW Festival. WOW will host workshops for the students including beatboxing, spoken word, comic books, recreating Islamic geometric patterns and school values. The day will also see an opening and closing talk from British-Nigerian activist, political commentator, author and lawyer Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu.

WOW Festivals began in the UK in 2010, launched by Jude Kelly at the Southbank Centre London, where she was then Artistic Director. Through festivals, events and more across the global, WOW celebrates women, girls and non-binary people, and takes a frank look at what prevents them from achieving their potential; raising awareness globally of the issues they face, and discussing solutions together. WOW, now run by UK charity The WOW Foundation in partnership with organisations across the world, is a global movement for gender equality. WOW London will be returning for its 13th year at Southbank Centre from 10-12 March 2023.

The WOW Foundation is proudly supported by its Global Founding Partner Bloomberg, and Global Partner Mastercard. This year's WOW International Day of the Girl activity is made possible by The Big Give and everyone who donated to our Women and Girls match funding campaign.