There are currently 100 million girls in low and lower-middle income countries who cannot read a single sentence. Yet, evidence shows that for every year of education a girl completes, her future income increases by more than 10%. Educating girls benefits their families and communities, and strengthens whole countries and continents.
Discrimination against girls starts at a young age. Many are denied the opportunity to access quality pre-primary education which is crucial if girls are to reach their potential.
For every year of education a girl completes, her future income increases by more than 10%
Progress is being made in getting girls to attend and complete primary school. However, by the end of 2015, there were fewer girls than boys at secondary school in more than half of all countries.
One in 5 adolescent girls across the world is out of school. The constraints of poverty, location, gender stereotypes, social norms and customs can all be barriers for girls when it comes to getting an education.
Even when adolescent girls stay in school, their education often fails to equip them with the knowledge they need. Life skills and sexuality education are often missing from the curriculum. However, these areas are critical in providing girls with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their lives and to find good jobs as they become adults.
Education is transformational for girls. It is the key to unlocking their potential. Educated girls are more likely to marry later and have fewer, healthier children. As a result, they have a better chance of staying healthy and remaining alive. When an educated girl grows up, she is more likely to invest her income in her children and send them to school. An educated girl will be a force for change in her society, raising the status of girls and women.
We have a vision that all girls will have access to a quality education and opportunities for lifelong learning by 2030. This matches the ambitious targets set out in the Sustainable Development Goals. We are committed to achieving this by working to ensure free and equal access to quality, safe education, including in emergencies. We advocate at global and national level to ensure that discrimination doesn’t stand between girls and their right to an education. We are also working alongside partners to develop a report which will track the implementation of the global goals and hold governments to account on the promises they have made.
Hanin, 14, fled her home town in Syria to seek safety in Egypt. “Everything changed in my life after I left Syria,” she says.
I miss my brother and sister, my home and my friends.
We’re providing classes and school materials for refugee children like Hanin who have missed out on school through conflict. She wants to be a doctor.