When 23 girls took over 12 embassies in Delhi on International Day of Girl Child

Children during Pink Turban campaign on International day of girl child. (Express File Photo)

On Wednesday, Antara Vats woke up unusually early, at 5 am, to read up on Slovenia, and prepare notes on the country. After all, the 20-year-old was the Ambassador of Slovenia to India for a day, replacing Jozef Drofenik.
But she wasn’t the only one.

Twenty-three girls, between the ages of 18 and 24, took over crucial positions across 12 embassies, on the occasion of International Day of the Girl Child. “We spoke about gender neutrality, divorce and the stigma around it, reservations for women…the Ambassador also discussed Triple Talaq with us. I found out that the wage gap is very low in Slovenia, and there are a number of women who hold positions of power in Defence and Education,” said Vats. She was assisted by 20-year-old Deeksha Sharma, a student of Mata Sundri College for Women, who said, “I never thought of becoming an Ambassador… it felt great”.

After half a day spent at embassies, the girls and the Ambassadors of participating countries such as The Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, the UK and Sweden, among others, gathered at The Ashok to share stories of the swap. The event was put together by Plan India, an independent child development organisation, and the discussion was moderated by its governing board member Madhukar Kamath.