Juba School Girls speak on Eye Radio' Dawn Show on the Intl Day of the Girl Child Day/photo by Awan Moses

As South Sudan joins in marking the International Day of the Girl Child, some female pupils have called on parents to protect their daughters from child marriage and allow them to go to school.

The International Day of the Girl Child celebrates girls’ rights and potential every 11 October since 2012, when the UN declared it as an official observance.

Speaking on the Eye Radio’s Dawn Show today, Suzan Nyoka – who is one of their schooling in Juba, urged parents to stop denying girls access to education.

She adds that girls have the same rights as boys to go to school.

“Let parents abolish the issue of discrimination that boys are more important than girls, they send boys to school and they leave girls to stay home.

“I just want them to treat them equally, if a boy is to go to school a girl is also to go to school because all of them are future holders.”

Another school girl Yoma Kasara said;  “A girl is a child to be protected from early marriage, she is not at that stage of being a wife or taking care of a family .So, they have to protect our girls and this goes to our parents

Meanwhile, Maria Jamba emphasized the importance of gender equality to fight poverty in the country.

“Gender Equality is one of the effective things that when we practice it, we will fight the extreme poverty, we will have a healthy and wealthy country South Sudan.”

This year’s theme for the International Day of the Girl Child is “Invest in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-being”