Background

The International Day of the Girl (IDG), celebrated annually on October 11, is a key global moment to celebrate the power of girls and highlight the barriers they face. This event aims to amplify their voices to share the issues they experience across the world and the support they want from the international community.

A signature IDG activity, Girls Takeover, is a call for radical social and political change to break down barriers of discrimination and prejudice that hold them back. From around the world, girls will assume leadership roles and occupy spaces where they are rarely seen or heard, making it clear that they have the right to be there without being silenced or ignored.

On October 17, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) hosted a Girls Takeover in celebration of IDG at its headquarters, in partnership with Plan International Asia-Pacific and Plan International Pilipinas. The event focused on the theme "Girls' Leadership in Climate Action."

A hybrid panel discussion kicked off the event, featuring youth, government representatives, civil society organizations, and private sector stakeholders. Panelists included Prachi Shevgoankar (Cool the Globe, India), Dikatauna Kea (Eda Davara Marine Sanctuary, Papua New Guinea), and Sabrina Escalona (Ecosensya Solutions for Environmental Sustainability, The Philippines).

Join us in standing in solidarity with girls and young women and supporting their call “Until We Are All Equal."

Watch the full recording of the panel discussion here:

Panelists

Prachi Shevgaonkar, Cool the Globe

Cool The Globe is both an app and a movement. It helps citizens answer a simple question: What can I do about climate change? They aim to empower individuals and communities to take meaningful climate action by reducing carbon emissions. The app enables users to track and reduce their emissions by adopting sustainable lifestyle choices, and they gamify the sustainability journey, making it a fun and rewarding community experience. To date, their 100,000+ users from 150 countries have collectively reduced 6,000 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions by making changes in their daily lives.

Cool The Globe has a “Contribute” feature that encourages users to engage in emission-offsetting activities such as tree plantation and carbon offsetting through I-REC projects. This aspect of their app allows users to contribute to NbS while reducing their carbon footprint. Through this feature, Prachi has been closely associated with several organizations involved in NbS, including tree plantation NGOs, the Abhinav Farmers Club (which consists of 250,000+ organic farmers), Hasiru Dala, a waste management group, and various wind energy projects.

Dikatauna Kwa, Eda Davara Marine Sanctuary

Dikatauna Kwa is a 26-year-old biologist and small business owner from Papua New Guinea (PNG). She has a strong passion for conservation, research, and youth empowerment that she uses to advocate for sustainable development for my people. As an entrepreneur and aspiring environmental science researcher, Dikatauna established the “Eda Davara Marine Sanctuary,” which is managed under my small business, KataLite Consultancy, and operates in her village in the Central Province of PNG. The project aims to provide a platform for university students to conduct research within the sanctuary, share knowledge with the local community, and serve as a learning hub for local children to engage with different marine ecosystems and understand their importance.

The Sanctuary initiative focuses on the biodiversity of mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, and coral reef ecosystems and how environmental changes have affected organisms and communities within and around them. Using the research findings, educational and ecotourism programs are developed for community awareness and encouragement of local economic activities. To further her knowledge and expertise, Dikatauna is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Environmental Science at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand.

Sabrina Escalona, Ecosensya Solutions for Environmental Sustainability

Sab is an environmental designer and licensed chemical engineer working on nature-based solutions for water cycle restoration and rainwater harvesting in the Philippines. She is a passionate advocate of water sustainability and dreams of a water-abundant world where nature and people live harmoniously together. As an engineer at heart and environmentalist by profession, Sab merges these two disciplines to create simple yet innovative designs that build with nature to address critical challenges such as flooding, climate change, and water scarcity. She has designed many urban and rural spaces, including schools, farms, rivers, resorts, and evacuation centers.

Beyond her work in environmental design, Sab is a startup enthusiast and the co-founder of Rainfold, a foldable rainwater harvesting tank that transforms rainwater into safe, drinkable water. She also manages Water Project PH, a digital platform dedicated to educating Filipinos on the importance of sustainable water practices in response to the growing national water crisis. Her leadership and impact in the sector have earned her recognition as one of the 20 Filipina Women Champions in the Water Sector for 2024.
 

Objectives

Building upon the global momentum of #GirlsTakeover, this ADBxPlan International collaboration on IDG aims to:

• Build knowledge around the unique role girls and young women play in environmental solutions to climate change by bringing the voices of young women and girl activists directly to ADB
• Identify action areas for multilateral development banks on girls and the environment, in line with ADB's New Operating Model's Climate Change Shift
• Provide a meaningful learning and development experience for the Girl TakeOver participant and, through mentoring sessions with ADB staff, for girl and young women attendees

Girls, Gender, Climate Change, and the Asian Development Bank

ADB is Asia and the Pacific’s Climate Bank, with a commitment to increase climate financing to US$100 billion by 2030. Developing member countries (DMCs) are increasingly committing to mainstream gender into climate policy and financing at all levels, but the voices of young people, particularly girls and young women, are frequently not meaningfully incorporated into climate decision-making despite being at the forefront of climate vulnerability and advocacy. The Asian Development Bank has a broad portfolio of work to support gender transformative climate action, including by i) providing technical assistance to DMCs to mainstream gender into climate policy, planning, and financing, ii) creating knowledge around heat stress, and iii) targeting the gender, climate, and poverty nexus through the Community Resilience Partnership Program Trust Fund. ADB is currently developing its Environment Action Plan.