Ahead of International Day of the Girl Child, UNICEF Maharashtra, a worldwide humanitarian aid organisation is partnering with Wattpad India to support gender equality through storytelling.

The campaign invites Wattpad India’s massive, engaged community of Gen Z and Millennial readers and writers, to share their stories and poems with an aim to highlight gender inequalities and imagine a better future for every gender. 

UNICEF India’s 2018-2022 Country Programme has laid out a number of focus areas to address systemic gender inequality. These include health (by supporting equal care-seeking behaviour for all), nutrition (promoting equitable eating practices), improvement in education and literacy rates, ending child marriage, supporting state governments to develop gender-responsive programmes, and supporting women’s leadership in local governance, to name a few.

With 70% women users and 45% from non-metro regions, Wattpad is the leading platform for young Indians across the country to share their voices and stories online. Wattpad is known as one of the safest spaces for marginalized creators online, and the global Wattpad community has rallied around social issues, championing mental health, gender and racial equality, and LGBTQ+ rights. Every year, readers spend billions of minutes with stories celebrating social justice, making Wattpad the perfect platform to partner with UNICEF.

Devashish Sharma, India Country Head, Wattpad said “At Wattpad, we have a massive community that spends billions of minutes each month deeply engaged in reading, writing, and sharing world-changing stories. On this special occasion of International Day for the Girl Child, we wanted to encourage unspoken conversations on gender equality with the aim to break taboos, raise awareness, and support equality for everyone. We are thrilled to partner with UNICEF to support the International Day of the Girl Child.”

The campaign will select the most impactful entries as winners to be announced on October 11, 2020. Selected stories will be available to read on Wattpad.