International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In order to mark it, today we have invited YouTube user Julia Lalla-Maharajh to curate the homepage with a view to reflecting this year's theme -- Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress For All -- and to tap into the thoughts of some of the most inspirational women in the world.



Earlier this year Julia secured the opportunity to head to the World Economic Forum at Davos through The Davos Debates, a worldwide initiative run through YouTube. This meant that she had the opportunity to raise awareness of her chosen cause -- that of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) -- with some of the most powerful people on the planet.

 

The United Nations estimates that FGM has affected 140 million women worldwide, with more than three million girls at risk of being cut every year in Africa alone. In the light of her commitment to a cause that affects so many women, Julia seemed an ideal candidate to take over YouTube today.







"The reason I felt I had to go to Davos was that having lived in the Developing World, I found it incredibly shocking how women and girls wrere treated," she explains. "Put simply, women and girls come last in every way - often treated worse than livestock. This manifests in many ways.


 
"We are killing girls: there are now entire generations of missing women in India and China. We kill them before birth, at birth, soon after birth. There are now 50 million missing girls in India alone. The repercussions are enormous.  Think hard, this is the survival of the human race. A woman in Davos told me there are villages in India where not a single girl has been born: the father travels north and buys one wife to 'service' his five sons.



"We are silencing women: in Iran, women risk life and limb and imprisonment for simply petitioning for the right to be heard. If you knew you would go to jail for asking someone to sign your petition, allowing you your most basic human rights, would you still go out on the streets to do it?



"We are allowing acts of violence to happen while we stand by: watch Nick Kristof's report in the Congo and you will see how we abandoning women to rape and sexual violence, every day of their lives, over and over again.



"But don't despair. There is hope. Spend some time trawling YouTube. Every film here is made by people who want and need change to happen and often they tell you how they need your help, at the end of their films. Do what you can to bring people to awareness. Make your own film. Talk about women, talk about girls, watch "The Girl Effect", which explains how the cycle of investment in girls is the best hope for the planet."



In addition to these selections, Julia has turned the spotlight on the fascinating documentary "Awra Amba", which profiles life in a unique rural community in Ethiopia, which has created a life free of inequality, poverty and hunger without external aid and is clearly thriving. She also highlights videos from UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon, Myanmar activist Aung San Suu Kyi and the incomparable (and sassy?) Maya Angelou, to serve as inspirations to us all.



However, she keeps the last word for her issue of choice: "Watch the film about FGM in the UK, which features 15 young girls from North London tackling one of the most complex human rights issues there is, raising their voices, determined to be heard. As one of them says: "Girls out there who don't have a say makes me realise that I mustn't take my education, my freedom for granted.""



On that note, here's hoping that you have found the time to watch some or all of the Spotlight videos today. Big issues, tough questions, but underlying it all a pervasive hope that together we can build a better future.



Jamie Dolling, Community Editor, YouTube UK.