Johannesburg, 17 October 2025 - The commemoration of International Day of the Girl Child at Midrand High School in Midrand, brought together the Deputy Minister of Basic Education Dr. Reginah Mhaule, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Group Executive: Infrastructure Delivery, Mr Chuene Ramphele, the Unilever SA Dove Masterbrand Marketing Lead, Ms Pavla Sessions, as well as other collaborating partners. The event featured the voices of learners, motivational talks and panel discussions under the theme: “The Girl I Am. The Change I Lead.”
International Day of the Girl Child is observed internationally since being declared by the United Nations and it is also called the Day of Girls and the International Day of the Girl. The day was first commemorated on October 11, 2012.
From 2025, the DBSA, together with its partners DBE and Unilever (through its brand, Dove), is moving the girls’ self-esteem agenda from a commemorative event to a more sustainable programme delivery, through development of innate capacity for the delivery of gender empowerment and psychosocial support in schools, and continuous intergenerational mentorship arrangements through DBSA volunteers.
The Big Sister Mentorship Programme is a DBSA CSI-led initiative, developed in partnership with the DBE as an extension of the International Day of the Girl Child initiative, transforming the DBSA’s participation from a once-off commemoration into a sustainable development programme. The programme is designed to empower Grade 9 girl learners from underserved schools through mentorship, guidance, and skills development led by DBSA female employees.
Aligned with empowerment, the DBSA and DBE are rallying behind Dove’s launch of the #ChangeTheCompliment campaign, which promotes rethinking how we communicate with and about young girls.
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About DBSA
The Development Bank of Southern Africa is one of the leading development financial institutions on the continent. Our primary purpose is delivering impactful development finance solutions that ignite transformative change in South Africa and on the rest of the African continent. Improving the quality of life of people in Africa is the fundamental focus of our development impact. We aim to bend the arc of history towards shared prosperity through multifaceted investments in sustainable infrastructure and human capacity.
Our product solutions span all phases of the infrastructure development value chain from infrastructure planning and project preparation, across a range of financing and non-financing investments to infrastructure implementation and delivery. Our primary areas of focus include Energy, ICT, Transport, Water and Sanitation. Our secondary area of focus includes Education, Housing and Health.
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