The calendar is filled with annual celebrations declared by the U.N. to spread awareness for some of the planet's most difficult problems. This year's second annual International Day of the Girl is successfully generating buzz and igniting advocates in all the right places.

At the center of discussions during this year's International Day of the Girl is Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl who began blogging anonymously for the BBC when she was just 11. One year ago Wednesday, the Taliban shot Yousafzai, and she released her memoir, I Am Malala, this week on the anniversary of her attack. She was nominated, but did not win, this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

The young champion of girls' education has made the rounds this week promoting her book, speaking with everyone from CNN's Christiane Amanpour to The Daily Show's Jon Stewart.


Malala, who joined Twitter during the Social Good Summit, has fueled the conversation around International Day of the Girl since then, and hosted a Twitter chat Friday with World Bank President Jim Kim.

Beyond Malala's campaigning, International Day of the Girl is being celebrated around the world and the web:

  • A Change.org petition honors the activism of girls under 18

  • Intel is hosting 50 screenings of its film Girl Rising and kicking off She Will Connect, a digital literacy program for girls in the developing world

  • UNICEF is hosting a "Code for Good" hackathon and Google+ hangout

  • The U.N. Foundation's GirlUp hosted a campaign called 11 Days of Action, encouraging different social media actions during the first 11 days of the month of October

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