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Speakers and panellists at the Facebook event today Pictures: Getty Images for �鶹APP

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Every girl around the world should have the same opportunity as every boy to go to school, to learn and to fulfil their potential.

That was the message that rang out loud and clear at the annual Facebook breakfast event in London to mark International Women�鶹APP�s Day.

This year�鶹APP�s theme was #RewritingTheCode and the event was co-hosted by the campaigning charity and National Geographic.

It featured the launch of ��in Kenya, Uganda and Senegal.

See the first Code Club in action here.

The charity�鶹APP�s President Sarah Brown said: �鶹APP�All girls should have the same opportunity to go to school, learn and grow, and have a future they choose.

�鶹APP�#RewritingTheCode and changing the embedded values that limit the futures of girls is at the heart of International Women�鶹APP�s Day.�鶹APP�

�鶹APP �鶹APP� the charity behind A World at School �鶹APP� has launched the , ahead of International Women�鶹APP�s Day on March 8, to raise awareness about the prejudice girls face globally.

Facebook announced it was supporting the first Code Club in Kibera, Kenya.��Lady Nicola Mendelsohn (pictured above), Vice President for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Facebook, said bias had to be eliminated and girls and women given equal opporurtunities.��

English writer and comedian Sara Pascoe (above) treated the audience to some great quips on the theme of gender. On a more serious note, she added: �鶹APP�It�鶹APP�s so hard to believe in ourselves. If we believe in each other, imagine what is possible.�鶹APP�

Lyndsey Scott (above) �鶹APP� American actress, model and app developer �鶹APP� spoke about being a minority woman in the world of coding.

She said women had to prove they were �鶹APP�the best�鶹APP� just to be accepted as �鶹APP�good enough�鶹APP� �鶹APP� a situation that has to change.

Lyndsey added: �鶹APP�That�鶹APP�s why I�鶹APP�m so excited about �鶹APP�鶹APP�s work to set up girls�鶹APP� Code Clubs across Africa.

�鶹APP�And I�鶹APP�m hopeful that by #RewritingTheCode the statement �鶹APP�girls can be leaders�鶹APP� will soon be a given.�鶹APP�

That was followed by a panel discussion hosted by Cesi De Quesada Covey and including writer and TV presenter Jameela Jamil (below).

The other panellists were Nyasha Duri (Global Youth Ambassador for A World at School), Gemma Silvers��(Facebook engineering manager), Tamara Rojo (artistic director of English National Ballet), Deborah Armstrong (Executive Vice President of Fox International Channels Europe) and Marieme Jamme (Co-Founder of Africa Gathering). She is pictured below in this tweet.

What does mean? For it�鶹APP�s taking the code in your own hands and changing it!

�鶹APP� �鶹APP (@theirworld)

In an event packed with remarkable people, the best job title went to the next guest. Ella Al-Shamahi is a paleoanthropologist and archaeologist who specialises in the study of Neanderthals. Oh, and she�鶹APP�s also a stand-up comic who uses jokes to communicate her love of science.

Laura Mvula (above) performed a song about how making mistakes are part of the fabric of life.

Nicola Mendelsohn returned to the stage to say it was vital that environments are created in which girls are safe to study and learn.

She challenged everyone in the audience with this final thought: �鶹APP�What are each of you going to do to rewrite the code?�鶹APP�

After the event a Code Club workshop was held, where guests were able to try out the same Kano computer kits which are being used by children at the Kibera School for Girls in Kenya.

Future & present coders at work! Women in London see how girls in our Code Club in Kenya will be

�鶹APP� �鶹APP (@theirworld)

Also at the breakfast was Niamh Deehan (below), who realised that using the symbol would be a great way of challenging the attitudes that prevent girls from learning about technology.

Today she saw her inspiring idea turn into reality with the launch of the #RewritingTheCode campaign.

You can learn more about . And discover more about .

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