It is International Day of the Boy Child 2021. The International Day of the Boy Child is a day set aside to advocate for boys to be educated, groomed, and mentored in order to have a truly gender-equal world. It is a day that focuses on the boy child. And reminds us that we should not neglect them.

This year’s theme is Guiding the Boy Child : positively impacting the world. It reminds us of how much impact we will make if our boys are guided properly from a young age. Over the years, it seemed like more people focused on training girls to be perfect while boys were left to trudge through life’s murky waters on their own. As a result, so many men had to learn a lot of things the hard way.

Many of them grew up broken and didn’t have anyone to turn to or ask questions. A lot went wrong as a result. These boys made lots of mistakes and took rash decisions. What if from a young age they’re guided properly? Think about how great that will be for them and for the society. We will have more boys growing up to become responsible men. Boys making an impact in society.

It is no coincidence that the International Day of the boy is celebrated on the same day as the Mental Health Awareness day. The reason for tying the two events together is to remind boys that it is okay to show emotions. It Is okay to be sad. You don’t have to be strong all the time. You don’t have to bottle up your fears.

Feeling insecure or afraid is human and we have come to understand that men are humans too. So as part of the boy child Advocacy, we let boys know that men need empathy and compassion as much as women do. We have come to realize that we shouldn’t only focus on training their girl child on the importance of good values, being domestic, kind, and human. We should involve the boys.

Although things are not perfect, we are getting better every day. As a result of personal experience and passion, some men and women noticed this gap and decided to do something about it. Some of them created nonprofit organizations in order to guide and mentor young boys, I have featured a good number of them on my blog because I admire what they do and I wish that more people would know about it.

I am grateful to men like Victor Ogbara, Joseph Okunmuyide, Benjamin Sarumi, Ojobo Agbo, Ebuka Ede, Dayo Adeyemi, Deji Irawo, and females like Olufunke Oyinlola and Sanni Olayinka Fatimot (and so on) who have picked up the gauntlets and have chosen to help guide young boys into becoming the best version of themselves. They are amazing people who have chosen to advocate for the boy child and they are seeing results.

A world where there is gender equality and real impact is a world where we are more committed to guiding boys. We need to be concerned with how boys are guided as much as we are concerned with what girls are being taught. This is because the world is made up of both genders!
As a feminist, Girl Child Advocacy is my focus but I will always point you in the direction of incredible people who are doing great things for boys and men out there because I know that gender inequality is a fight that must be won with all hands on deck. I know that no gender will win this alone and so I am all for collaboration, sharing information, and encouraging advocacy for both genders.

Today, I am joining the United Nations to reach out to everyone out there — especially men who relate to this and know what it means to be confused. Enough of the complaining. What we need is action. We need to guide our boys and create a better future. A positively impacted world depends on the actions we take today. Will you intensify our efforts and reach the boy child today? The time to start is now.