UN International Day of the Girl

The eyes of the world will be on Australia as Melbourne kicks off global celebrations for UN International Day of the Girl – and child rights organisation Plan International will be marking the day with a series of colourful public events.

Melbourne will be the first city in the world to join the movement for girls' education as Winners and Losers star Melanie Vallejo joins Plan in bathing Flinders Street Station in a spectacular pink light on October 10, the eve of UN International Day of the Girl. Other landmarks around the world will follow, including the Empire State Building in New York City.

The following morning (Friday, October 11) will give the people of Melbourne the chance to raise their hand for girls education, as a huge interactive billboard is unveiled on the concourse at Flinders Street Station. Standing three metres tall and 10 metres long, the billboard will be an arresting sight in one of Australia's busiest train stations at its morning peak.

Depicting a scene of young girls working in a factory, commuters can collect a special eraser and help reveal the surprising image beneath. And Australians who cannot make it to Flinders Street Station can still join in with an online version of the billboard at plan.org.au.

Melbourne's billboard will be the very first of many unveiled around the globe on October 11. Similar billboards will be seen in UN Plaza in New York City and Trafalgar Square in London.

Ian Wishart, chief executive of Plan International Australia, said: 'Right now, 66 million girls around the world are not in school and that's why International Day of the Girl is so important. This is a day in which all of us can stand up for girls and stand up for their education."

Flinders Street Station Pinkifying Ceremony
Where: Steps of St Paul's Cathedral, corner Flinders and Swanston Streets (diagonally opposite the station).
When: 8pm, October 10, 2013.
Details: Seven Network's Winners and Losers star Melanie Vallejo and Plan CEO Ian Wishart will be leading a ceremony to switch on the lights that will bathe Flinders Street Station in a spectacular pink light for International Day of the Girl.

Interactive Billboard At Flinders Street Station
Where: Flinders Street Station, main concourse
When: 10am, October 11, 2013.
Details: Plan CEO Ian Wishart, supported by Victorian Girl Guides, will be unveiling a 10-metre long interactive billboard in Flinders St Station, inviting commuters to erase the image to reveal the scene below.

The United Nations first declared October 11th  to be International Day of the Girl in 2011, following a campaign by Plan. Plan's Because I Am A Girl campaign fights gender inequality, and aims to support millions of girls to get the education, skills and support they need to transform their lives and the world around them.

Plan is one of the oldest and largest children's development organisations in the world, founded 75 years ago, working in 48 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas and supported by 20 donor countries. Plan is independent, with no religious, political or governmental affiliations.