Before you wish her a happy day,

tell me,
what exactly are we celebrating?

The girl forced to become a wife
before she discovers who she wants to be?

The girl who misses school
because poverty has made her dreams too expensive?

Or the girl who has mastered silence
because nobody taught her
that her voice deserves to be heard?

We call her the future,
yet we keep failing her in the present.

We tell her she can be anything,
then build a world
that makes her fight to become something.

What is empowerment without opportunity?
What is protection without justice?
What is equality
when she is still afraid?

A girl should not have to survive abuse
to prove she is strong.

She should not have to choose
between her education and her survival.

And her childhood should never be the price
someone else demands for her future.

To our public officials,
government institutions,
parents and guardians,
and every community entrusted with her future:

Stop teaching girls how to survive injustice.
Start dismantling the injustice.

Because she is not asking for too much.
She is demanding her rights.

So, before you celebrate her today,
before you praise her resilience,
ask yourself:

Why did she have to be resilient in the first place?

The girl child does not need another day
of beautiful speeches.

She needs a world that finally keeps its promises.