Here's how Australian High Commissioner celebrated International Day of the Girl Child

New Delhi [India], Oct 11 (ANI): On the occasion of International Day of the Girl Child, Australian High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu on Friday handed over her post to a girl Anjali for a day and arranged a friendly football match at the Commission premises itself.
"Well! today is the International Day of the Girl Child and for the Australian High Commission, we put a very high value on gender equality and on supporting women and girls to achieve their best. One of the ways we can do this is through sport. And we find that sport gives the girl a real sense of confidence and it is been a very critical enabler in empowering girls and getting them to aspire and dream bigger," Sidhu told ANI.
"So, today we are really pleased to work with South-East European Child Rights Action Network (SEECRAN) whom we worked with many many times on various sports programs. They work with young girls often from underprivileged backgrounds but also with Plan International and Plan India who have a program where I hand over my role to a young Indian woman who is Gigh Commissioner for a day. So, we bringing these two things together and really highlighting sports and girls empowerment," she added.
An underprivileged girl Anjali was chosen after going passing multiple tests and interviews. She took the office as an Australian High Commissioner for a day and did her job well, according to Sidhu.
"Well! I have to say she is doing a very good job and I think I can relax. She will be a very good High Commissioner in the future if she is not already. Truly, it goes to show how somebody can bring there own ability and stamp to a job and make it there own. So, I have been really happy to do this. I think it is a wonderful program and we feel so happy to participate and I hope we continue to do so for a long time," Sidhu said.
"She had the number of things, we had an official handover today. She then held a number of roundtable meetings with senior women leaders here in Delhi, talking about exchanging views on issues that women and girls face. It was interesting that theses women learned a lot from Anjali who was able to explain how she tackled some of the issues in her hometown. She also addressed all the High Commission staff today and has given them some understanding of the work she has been doing. She had a very busy day," she added.
When asked about what do you want to convey to the Indian girls she said, "I hope that they feel they can dream very big. It is in them, in every one of them to achieve there life's ambition. And really what they need is confidence because they already have the ability. The trust and confidence in themselves will take them a long way."
International Day of the Girl Child is an international observance day declared by the United Nations; it is also called the Day of Girls and the International Day of the Girl. October 11, 2012, was the first day of the Girl Child. (ANI)