Global children’s charity Plan International UK has today unveiled a striking display of ice sculptures of schoolgirls along the Thames, highlighting the millions of girls worldwide being frozen out of education.

The sculptures, launched to mark International Day of the Girl, are based on girls from Gaza, Sudan and Afghanistan, some of the toughest places for girls to access education. Globally, a shocking four in ten girls never finish school1.

As part of the display, absence notes based on real girls’ stories were placed at empty desks, explaining why they miss school, including bombs destroying their home, having to flee from fighting and forced marriage.

The installation, located moments from Tower Bridge, comes as the charity releases a landmark report showing the impact of conflict on children’s education. According to the survey of 10,000 children affected by conflict across ten countries2, more than half of girls (52%) reported missing school due to conflict. Among girls from Sudan, this figure rose to 73%, while reports suggest that hundreds of thousands of girls living in Gaza are receiving no formal education3.

Suhad, age 14 from Gaza, was one of the girls brought to life through the ice.

“My favourite memories before the war were sitting in my garden and going to school without feeling terrified. I would study in my room and go out with friends. I had a normal life. Back then, we didn’t need anyone to give us food, drink or money because my father was working. During the attack, my house was bombed and my father’s workplace was bombed. Half my teachers were gone. Many people were killed, including some of my friends,” she said.

One of the absence notes, based on the story of 14-year-old Angham from Sudan, reads:

“I cannot come to school anymore. The fighting reached our town and we had to flee. My grandmother is trying to teach us, but I’m falling behind. I still dream of becoming a doctor.”

Plan International UK worked with Yorkshire based artists, Sand in Your Eye, to create the striking ice sculptures.

Nick Radmore, Director of Fundraising at Plan International UK, says:

“These ice sculptures represent the fragility of girls’ education. Far too often, girls around the world see their chance for an education shattered by discrimination and poverty, while escalating global conflicts are making their odds of going to school even worse. This is simply unacceptable.

“When girls don’t get a chance to learn, they have little agency to shape their own futures and are often forced into child marriage, unplanned pregnancies and exploitation.

“This International Day of the Girl is an opportunity to come together and create change so that every girl can take a seat in the classroom and stay there.”

Ahead of International Day of the Girl, the charity surveyed 2,000 UK adults and found that they starkly underestimate the number of girls out of school worldwide – the median guess was 15 million, when in reality a huge 129 million girls worldwide are not in school.

To help prevent girls from being frozen out of education, visit Plan International UK’s website. Donations will help Plan International UK to provide girls with things like learning materials, school meals and period-friendly toilets, so that every girl can finish school and shape her own future.

A donation of £4 per month could provide learner kits, workbooks and stationery for
girls starting school, or a one-off donation of £20 could provide learning kits for five girls attending catch-up classes at school. Donate here.