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Education is a right, but unfortunately not a reality, for many girls and young women around the world. Globally, 61 million children do not attend primary school, more than half of them girls. No society can ever achieve its full potential when half the population-girls and women-is denied the right to achieve theirs.

When young Malala Yousafzai was targeted and shot by the Taliban in Pakistan-simply for wanting to go to school-the world of global education was changed forever. Today, people are focusing on girls' education advocacy and the important ideals that Malala and her father and her friends are fighting for: Girls should be able to attend school as a human right, free of fear and intimidation.
Join Malala's fight and sign the petition supporting girls' education.
Girls' education benefits everyone. When countries invest in girls' education, they are investing in the well-being of the entire nation. Educated girls are more likely to earn better salaries, while helping lift their families and communities out of poverty. Children are less likely to be drawn into the dangers of child labor or human trafficking. Educated girls lead healthier lives. Education also can protect against violence; children who receive an education are less likely to inflict domestic violence or to suffer from it. They are more likely to become active in civil society, understand their rights and be a positive force for change.

Although progress in equality has been made, no country is yet entirely free from gender discrimination in education. Unequal opportunity, child labor, and violence against women and girls touch every nation. Girls' education is a crucial tool for empowering women and for advancing economic and social development. With our advocacy on this key issue, we are advancing human rights for all.
Join Malala's fight and sign the petition supporting girls' education.

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The AFT stands up for girls' education worldwide

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Education is a right, but unfortunately not a reality, for many girls and young women around the world. Globally, 61 million children do not attend primary school, more than half of them girls. No society can ever achieve its full potential when half the population-girls and women-is denied the right to achieve theirs.

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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

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Malala Yousafzai on the Power of Education | Glamour

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Educate a girl and she will change the world

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Girls Education in the Developing World | Wanda Bedard | TEDxMontrealWomen

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Fresberg Cartoon – Learning & History for Students

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Women's History: Malala Yousafzai the girl shot by the Taliban (Educational Videos)

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Watch Malala Yousafzai's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

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A girl's education is an investment in her future. It's also an investment in the future of our world - a thriving, peaceful and sustainable world. Education is a powerful tool in developing the full potential of every child, but it also helps promote understanding, respect and friendship between nations, peoples and religious groups.

For all children, but especially for girls, education provide stability for today and opportunities for tomorrow. Learn more about the importance of female education and how you can help protect girls' education rights.

1. Is education a human right?

2. How many girls don't go to school?

3. What is keeping girls out of school?

4. Why is it important to educate a girl?

5. What is World Vision doing to help?

6. What can I do to help keep girls in school?

1. Is education a human right?
No matter who you are or where you live, you have a fundamental human right to education. It's protected in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Every young boy and girl is entitled to full and complete access to quality education. But many of the world's poorest children continue to be denied this basic human right.

2. How many girls don't go to school?
According to UNESCO, there are an estimated 130 million girls between the ages of 6 and 17 out of school. 15 million primary school-aged girls will likely never enter a classroom in their lifetime. Those from the poorest families are more likely to be out of school than their peers from more affluent communities.

Nine of the top 10 most difficult nations for girls to be educated are in sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly three-quarters of girls in South Sudan do not attend primary school. In the Central African Republic, there is only one teacher for every 80 students. And in Niger, only 17 per cent of young women are literate.

3. What is keeping girls out of school?
There are many obstacles standing in the way of girls' education. Poverty exacerbates issues like famine and drought, health and sanitation, cultural norms and practices, among others - all which collide to form insurmountable barriers to girls' education.

These girls from Kilfifi, Kenya must walk more than 20 kilometers from their homes to collect water. The laborious task keeps them out of school.

Famine and drought
Food and water shortages are not a new phenomenon by any means, but they have become so severe in recent years that many developing countries have declared states of disaster. Women and children are responsible for water collection in 71 per cent of sub-Saharan households without drinking water. Girls are now spending more time walking longer distances to retrieve water for their families - water that is often contaminated or unsanitary. She might be too tired or hungry to concentrate in school, or too sick from water-borne diseases to attend class at all.

Health and sanitation
While lack of hygiene and sanitation affects all school-aged children, inadequate facilities are most detrimental to girls. Many schools have unsafe latrines or unsanitary water supplies, making it impossible for girls to remain in school when they begin to menstruate. The shortage of safe, separate and private sanitation and washing facilities is one of the leading factors preventing girls from attending school.

Cultural norms and practices
Girls are often prevented from attending school even when they're eager to so. Many families and cultures tend to favour education for boys. Parents and community leaders may not see the value in educating a girl, believing it to be unnecessary for her primary roles in life as a wife and mother.

Even for those girls who do start school, cultural practices like child marriage can bring their education to an abrupt halt. Many are forced to drop out in order to focus on domestic responsibilities or to raise children of her own. The numbers show that girls who aren't in school face a greater risk of becoming child brides: Girls who have no education are three times more likely to marry before 18 than girls who attended secondary school or higher.

Impoverished families often have no choice but to resort to child labour in order to survive. Many of these children are "invisible," out of sight and out of the reach of the laws that protect them. Girls involved in family care or domestic work are perhaps the most invisible of all. There is evidence to suggest that girls make up the majority of child labourers around the world - spending long days in harsh working conditions rather than in a classroom, where she belongs.

Even those who are fortunate enough to attend school face challenges with access. 11-year-old Sreyneang, second from right above, walks 4 kilometers to get to a classroom in Cambodia. "I always walk to school at 6 am. I am tired and my legs are tired too."

Distance and cost
Physical access to a classroom can itself a challenge. In many parts of the developing world, the nearest primary school to a particular community could be a 4 or 5 hour long walk away. Many parents worry about their children having to travel long distances on their own to get to school. Girls are particularly vulnerable, risking danger, violence and abuse just to get into a classroom.

Although primary education should be free, there are often associated costs that prove too heavy a burden for struggling families to bear. Be it textbooks, school fees, uniforms or transportation - when a family has more than one child to raise, girls often lose out to their brothers.

Crisis and conflict
War and violence often bring an abrupt end to education opportunities for all children, but girls are particularly vulnerable during times of social or political crises. Many families sustain insurmountable losses in natural disasters or epidemics, after which the need for education pales in comparison to simple survival. A quarter of all out-of-school children around the world live in crises-affected countries.

Angela, 15, and her friend Innes, 11, are adjusting to life in a camp for internally displaced people in the Central African Republic. They receive food rations from the United Nations and find shelter in empty dwellings. But the greatest adjustment has been to a life without classes. Before the conflict, Angela and Innes went to school together.

4. Why is it important to educate a girl?
Education, for any child, can open the doors to a brighter future that would otherwise be locked tight. But it isn't just about the future - children who stay in school are better protected from exploitation in the present. When girls have access to education, they develop the knowledge, confidence and life skills necessary to navigate and adapt to an ever-changing world.

Breaking the cycle of poverty
The education of girls not only helps them achieve their individual potential, but also helps to break intergenerational cycles of poverty and disadvantage. When a girl stays in school, she increases her income earning potential and her future is immediately brighter. Education empowers her to build a better life for herself, contributing to the health, safety and prosperity of her family and community. In fact, a one percentage point increase in female education rates raises the average GDP for her country by 0.3 percentage points.

Today, a young girl in South Sudan is 3 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than to complete primary education.

Improved health
Studies have shown the positive impact that education of girls has on their overall health and wellbeing. Increasing a girl's access to education decreases her risk of contracting HIV and improves future child and maternal health. A woman who receives formal education is more likely than an uneducated woman to use contraception, marry later, have fewer children, and be better informed on the nutritional needs of her children.

8-year-old Faith attends Kolol Primary School in Soin, Kenya. She wants to be a businesswoman when she grows up.

Learning to lead
School is the place where children first learn to exercise their agency and make their voices heard. Without access to education, girls are denied the opportunity to learn the skills that enable them to take charge - not only in their own homes, careers and lives - but also in their community and their country. They can more effectively teach their own children, which will help lift an entire generation. When we educate girls, we give them the chance to step up and realize their fullest leadership potential.

5. What is World Vision doing to help?
Wherever we work, we work to champion the rights of girls. We partner with her family and her entire community - men, women, boys and girls - to help them understand a girl's worth and why her rights must be protected. In particular, we help them understand the importance of supporting girls' education rights.

We work to improve school facilities in developing countries around the world. By ensuring access to clean water and installing safe, private and separate latrines for girls near school buildings, we help keep children safe while they're learning and encourage their continued attendance. By supplying furniture, textbooks, supplies and nutritious meals, children are better able to stay engaged and focused in the classroom.

Children enjoy a nutritious meal at St. Joseph School in Kuajok, one of many World Vision Food for Education programs in Warrup State, South Sudan.

Our work with local and international education ministries ensures that teachers have the tools they need to improve their classroom environments. By creating locally relevant and age-appropriate learning materials, children can learn what they need to know in their native language. And by collaborating with other experienced organizations in the field, we're able to reach more broadly to help implement successful education initiatives in the countries where we work.

6. What can I do to help keep girls in school?
The UN's Sustainable Development Goals have a target to ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education by 2030. We've made progress, but as many as 48 per cent of girls continue to remain out of school in some regions. As kids enter adolescence, higher numbers of girls drop out of secondary school from early pregnancy or the expectation that they should spend more of their time doing household work.

You can help keep girls in school by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice that many families face. When you sponsor a girl, you help provide basic necessities like nutritious food, clean water, access to education and health care. For families with girls, sponsorship helps ensure they are protected from child labour or early marriage - and that they stay in the classroom.

You can also help support education initiatives directly by helping to supply classrooms, provide nutritious school meals or supply textbooks for children. Learn more about how you can support girls' education by exploring the World Vision Gift Catalogue. 7. Stories

8-year-old Faith lives with her family in Kenya. Her favourite subject in school is Kiswahili, the language spoken in her community. And every Friday she looks forward to playing dodge ball with her friends at school. She wants to be a businesswoman when she grows up. Faith is sure an education will help her achieve her dreams and enable her to have a good life.

Her home community has suffered the devastating consequences of climate change over the years, with inconsistent rainfall leading to drought and severe flooding, damaging homes and food crops for many families.

World Vision Kenya is working alongside families like Faith's to support education, health, and food security, as well as COVID-19 prevention measures.
Photo: Lanelyn Carillo
After watching frontline health workers working to save people with COVID-19, Clouie, 13, was inspired to become a doctor. "I've heard so much about them on the news. When I grow up, I want to be one of them so I can also help those who are sick," she says.

This fall Clouie is returning to school virtually. World Vision Philippines provided school supplies to help her, and her three siblings prepare for class, stretching the family's budget a little bit futher.
Like so many other students, Clouie misses seeing her classmates and teachers in person, but is keen to get back to learning.

"I miss my friends and my teacher too," says seven-year-old Nubia. Virtual schooling hasn't been easy, but it hasn't slowed her down either. When lockdowns began in Bolivia, her mother, Rosa, made sure she kept up with the assignments she received from her teacher. Nubia's favourite subject is Math, and one day she hopes to become a lawyer.

Before the pandemic, the family got by on the meagre earnings of day labour. Because of COVID-19 those opportunities are fewer and farther between. World Vision Bolivia is supporting Nubia's family and others in their densely populated community with food kits, to keep them going, and to help this determined little girl to stay focused on her studies.

Fawzia, 6, wants to finish school and become a dentist. "I love learning the alphabet", she says with her little eyes that sparkle every time she talks about school. "I am happy with the remote learning, but I also want to go and meet new friends", she explains.

In partnership with UNICEF, World Vision Lebanon (WVL) is supporting vulnerable girls and boys to remain in education. COVID-19 has meant a switch to virtual learning to help keep children safe. So, WVL's education teams created WhatsApp groups with the parents and caregivers of children to help them stay engaged with their lessons. This process has had the unexpected benefit of engaging whole families, giving parents greater insight and involvement in what their children are studying day to day.

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A girl's education is an investment in her future. It's also an investment in the future of our world - a thriving, peaceful and sustainable world. Education is a powerful tool in developing the full potential of every child, but it also helps promote understanding, respect and friendship between nations, peoples and religious groups.

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Why Are So Many Girls in India Not Getting an Education?

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Free, compulsory school has been a right for children in India since 2009. So why are so many young women still not getting an education?

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6. Children of an educated mother are less likely to be malnourished. Malnutrition accounts for 45% of all deaths among children under five worldwide (Lancet Report, 2013). An educated mother is more likely to feed her children healthy food, to know the signs of malnourishment, and to take action if she suspects a problem. Adequate nutrition in the young child contributes to normal brain and physical development and overall better health and well-being.

7. She invests in future generations and her community. An educated woman invests nearly all (90%) of her income into her family and community (Phil Borges, Women Empowered: Inspiring Change in the Emerging World, 2007). Her knowledge influences how she raises her children and impacts her role in the family and the community. An educated mother is more than twice as likely to send her children to school (UNICEF, 2010) thus continuing the cycle of education and establishing a precedent for the generations that follow.

8. She experiences less discrimination. Girls and young women who are educated have a greater awareness of their rights (Education First: An Initiative of the United Nations Secretary General, 2012). They are more likely to stand up for themselves in male-dominated cultures and to advocate for themselves and their children.

9. She makes her own decisions. Educated girls and women have greater confidence and freedom to make decisions that affect their lives (Education First: An Initiative of the United Nations Secretary General, 2012). They're better equipped to challenge the cultural imperative that women belong in the home, raising children and doing the chores. Education empowers young women to think beyond the cultural norms and pursue their dreams of a better life.

10. She's safer. Education protects women from abuse (Atlantic Monthly, May 15, 2014). Extremists hate smart girls because smart girls are less likely to be kept down. Girls' schooling has a protective effect against domestic violence, rape, and child marriage. Each additional year of schooling is associated with a 1% increase in a female's ability to refuse sex with her partner. Women with some or completed secondary education have an 11 and 36% lower risk of violence, respectively, compared with women with no education (World Bank report, 2014). Educated women are more likely to work outside the home, avoid isolation, and earn income, all of which lessen their vulnerability to domestic and physical abuse.

Educating girls works

Incredible things happen when a girl gets the education she needs. Her life and the lives of her children improve. She earns an income and contributes to the local economy. She models confidence and self-determination for her children and the girls and women in her community. Thanks to the support of donors like you, we can continue to empower girls and women in Central Asia, where education is changing the world, one girl at a time.

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Top 10 Reasons To Support Girls' Education - Central Asia Institute

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6. Children of an educated mother are less likely to be malnourished. Malnutrition accounts for 45% of all deaths among children under five worldwide (Lancet Report, 2013). An educated mother is more likely to feed her children healthy food, to know the signs of malnourishment, and to take action if she suspects a problem.

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Despite large gains in girls’ education over the last 25 years, today there are at least 80 countries where momentum has stalled. Elizabeth King and Rebecca Winthrop review in detail the progress in girls’ education, the work that remains to be done, and strategies for success.

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Where is girls' education headed? What are the most important trends to watch, the areas to worry about, and the strategies to consider?

Last year, the Center for Universal Education (CUE) at Brookings collaborated with the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) to survey 125 organizations working on girls' education to answer those kinds of questions. We did this in part to review the influence of the UN's Millennium Development Goals, set in 2000 for 2015, which explicitly included goals focused on universal primary education and promoting gender equality. But we also did it in light of the more recent UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that look towards 2030. There are 17 SDGs, focused, broadly, on eradicating poverty, combatting global warming, and ensuring equality and justice, and including specifics such as: ending child marriage, harmful traditional initiation rites, and increasing female political participation.

It's true that there has been tremendous progress and important advancements in girls' education; after all, women and adolescent girls are completing more years of school than ever and the number of girls out of primary school has been cut in half since the early 2000s. But the current state of affairs has left many actors in the field wondering how to update their agendas to match the current environment. In undertaking our study, our hope was that by capturing the landscape of efforts to improve girls' educations, we might advance the conversation about how to better align efforts to achieve the SDGs.

In that spirit, we share our findings here. Our research revealed 10 strategic trends that demonstrate how the field is grappling with a new era in girls' education, and suggest potential gaps in the effort, and the opportunities for action that those gaps present.

1. Focusing efforts on adolescent girls

As progress has been made in girls' access to primary education, many organizations have begun to turn their attention toward the stubborn gender gaps that persist at the secondary level due to the unique barriers that adolescent girls face. Our study showed that some key players, such as the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) through its first phase of the Girls' Education Challenge (GEC) Fund, continue to prioritize the primary level as a building block for advancing transitions into higher levels. But nearly twice as many organizations now focus on post-primary issues for adolescent girls (e.g. girls' transitions to secondary education or to the workforce) as compared to those focused on primary-level issues.

However, we also found that the organizations that focus on adolescent girls often hone in on a limited set of issues specific to adolescent girls, such as menstrual hygiene management and sexual and reproductive health education. That means that many are missing a key opportunity to take on larger structural issues, such as addressing the constraining gender norms and expectations that typically arise when a girl reaches puberty, or facilitating school-reintegration for school-aged mothers or child brides.

2. Investing in efforts to improve the quality of education overall, and girls' education in particular

In our review, we found a notable trend in organizations' prioritization of quality learning. Specifically, 44 percent of the organizations that we studied are engaged in teacher training and gender-sensitization efforts, while 27 percent focus on addressing gender-responsive curriculum (e.g., tackling the "hidden curriculum" of gender stereotypes in textbooks and other teaching materials).

This focus on teachers and the curriculum as components to improving the quality of girls' education is critical not only for setting the structures necessary for the creation of "the learning generation"- as envisioned by the Education Commission -but also for making progress toward achieving gender equality in education.

3. Addressing school-related gender-based violence

Our scan indicates that a quarter of girls' education organizations focus on school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV)-a sharp contrast to five years ago when GBV work was not yet seen as part of the auspices of the education sector. And our findings indicate that the relatively high prioritization of SRGBV today reflects the intensified advocacy efforts of 35 organizations that came together in 2014 to form the Global Working Group to End SRGBV. Led by the UNGEI and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), this group was formed to build evidence and knowledge on SRGBV and to develop toolkits for monitoring violence in schools from a gender lens.

4. "No girl left behind"-focusing on hard-to-reach populations

Significant progress has been made on the education front for large groups of girls in the Global South in the late 2000s. However, general research findings clearly indicate that poor, rural, disabled, and displaced girls, girls in the ethnic or linguistic minority where they live, and/or girls who live in contexts of crises (such as war or other conflicts, or in areas affected by natural disasters) are not being benefiting equally.

The "last 10 percent" of girls continues to be the hardest to reach, and few organizations address the educational needs of the most marginalized girls. In our scan of girls' education actors, fewer than 10 organizations had a focus on girls with disabilities and/or on girls in refugee contexts. However, global political will to tackle the challenges and barriers to education for the most marginalized girls is likely to take a turn. DFID's second funding window for the GEC has promised to lead this shift with its theme of "Leave no girl behind." Such initiatives provide much-needed opportunities to start collecting data not only on the impact of crisis and conflict on girls' education, but also the intersections of multiple dimensions of marginalization.

5. Multi-sectoral approaches

The SDGs' cross-sectoral nature brings light to the fact that no single sector can deliver on any of the goals alone. Collaborations among health sector organizations, agencies, and advocates-such as the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS

(UNAIDS), and education actors like UNICEF and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) under the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria-are a testament to the realization that achieving outcomes in one area is inextricably tied to achieving outcomes in another. At least one-third of organizations in our study were engaged not only in efforts to improve girls' education, but also in other priority areas such as girls' health, safety, livelihoods, and employment. The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), for example, supports the work of Save the Children in Malawi, which aims to prevent teenage pregnancy so as to keep girls from dropping out of school. And Vodafone's CSR program, Connecting for Good, supports programs aimed at applying technology to solve health, education, and disaster relief challenges, and raises funds to support the education of girls who have been forcibly displaced from their homes. It is clear that few organizations today are tackling barriers to girls' education only by focusing on what goes on inside the classroom or on school grounds.

6. Partnerships and communities of practice

As the girls' education ecosystem grows, there has been a concomitant increase in the number of partnerships, including the multi-stakeholder partnerships that characterize the GPE and UNGEI, and the public-private partnerships between DFID and corporations such as Discovery Communications, the Coca-Cola Company, Avanti Communication, and Ericsson to support the GEC. The growth of such partners in girls' education is an important indication that this work has indeed begun to "mainstream" into other sectors and broader society-in large part thanks to the advocacy work of organizations such as Girl Rising and Plan International.

The rise of communities of practice is also a welcome move toward aligning strategic practice and evidence. One good example: Girls CHARGE, which was first convened in 2014 by CUE and the Clinton Foundation's No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project. Although there are only a few of these networks to date, they show great potential for fostering collaboration, sharing resources and tools, and disseminating knowledge and evidence.

7. System strengthening

By no means a new phenomenon, gender mainstreaming work has been an important ( and heavily critiqued) component of bilateral and multilateral development efforts to build the capacity of governments and civil society. This system-strengthening work in the girls' education ecosystem has been largely spearheaded by the collaboration between GPE and UNGEI. While this specific partnership has focused on supporting GPE's efforts to help its partners in different countries prepare gender-responsive education sector plans, the system strengthening approach in general may prove to be especially relevant in the SDG era.

8. Supporting gender equality in education

While the MDGs helped raise global awareness of the barriers to girls' educational access, this focus has resulted, in some cases, in cultural backlash. This has happened most often in contexts where boys are also doing poorly in school and especially in areas where issues of inequality in access have become more complicated with boys disengaging and dropping out of school. It also happens where issues of educational quality are the primary concern, since the quality of the education being delivered affects both girls and boys, in different but equally impactful ways.

Our research confirms that organizations traditionally focused on girls' education are now looking at broader facets of gender relations, gender stereotypes in curriculum, and teacher pedagogy. UNGEI's work has contributed a great deal to this trend, specifically through its support of the Global Education Monitoring Report Gender Review, which has rallied actors to focus on these broader goals.

9. Social norms work

Addressing gender inequalities embedded in the administration of the education system (system strengthening work) is different from but complementary to addressing the deep structure of gender inequality in society (social norms work). According to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), "It is critical that broader poverty reduction and development frameworks do not simply 'add girls and stir' to existing approaches but rather integrate a more nuanced understanding of gender discriminatory social institutions and related change pathways."

Indeed, our study suggests that a growing number of organizations, including CARE International and ActionAid, are beginning to move beyond system-strengthening work and engage instead in social norms work in pursuit of transformational systems change. Social norms work does predate the focus on system strengthening. However, the renewed interest in creating enabling structures for gender equality (rather than focusing on gender mainstreaming) has emerged in response to the heavy focus on system-strengthening work during the MDG era.

10. Utilizing social media, ambassadors, and grassroots mobilization

Increasingly, organizations-especially bilateral and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs)-are striving to identify and utilize grassroots youth ambassadors, volunteers, and/or high-level political champions to mobilize communities to support girls' education. Examples (which abound) include: the Global Education First Initiative's (GEFI) Youth Ambassadors, Plan International's Because I am a Girl Ambassadors, Malala Yousafzai herself and the Gulmakai Network of the Malala Fund, and the then collaborative work by Peace Corps volunteers and local grassroots leaders under the US government and former First Lady Michelle Obama's Let Girls Learn initiative.

These actors serve as important conduits for increasing the global visibility of girls' education issues in distinct locales. They are also raising awareness of girls' education issues in general. Social media has played a crucial role in this work, as organizations increasingly tweet, blog, publish videos, and facilitate access to other information resources to mobilize popular audiences and foster grassroots fundraising campaigns. At this point, few, if any, major organizations in girls' education lack an active social media component in their portfolio.

Our study was by no means comprehensive or exhaustive, but these tend trends are clear. We believe that the global community and national governments will continue to make progress helping girls access better educational opportunities, and develop the skills they need to achieve their full life potential. We believe that they will continue to strive to build gender responsive education systems. However, we also know that these issues will continue to deepen and grow more complex. As the clock ticks toward 2030, understanding these findings and identifying potential gaps and blind spots are key to effectively catalyzing collective action to realize the SDGs.

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Where is girls' education headed? What are the most important trends to watch, the areas to worry about, and the strategies to consider? Last year, the Center for Universal Education (CUE) at Brookings collaborated with the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) to survey 125 organizations working on girls' education to answer those kinds of questions.

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Every Girl Deserves an Education

A girl is not a statistic or a piece of property. She's a child who deserves a future.

Girls the world over face gender discrimination - just for being born a daughter and not a son. A girls education is less likely to be valued, and she's more likely to be forced into early marriage, face violence or be stolen by traffickers. Her childhood cut short - her very life and future at risk.

A girl's education changes everything. An educated girl is more likely to grow up healthy, safe and empowered to determine the course of her life and future. She'll decide when she's ready for marriage and children. She'll likely send her children to school - and even live a longer life.

We understand the importance of education for girl children. We do whatever it takes to ensure every last child has a chance to grow up healthy, educated and safe - her best chance for a bright future.

With your help, we can educate girls who may not otherwise have the chance to learn - changing the course of their lives, their children's lives and the future of their communities.

Promoting Girls Education

Save the Children's Every Last Child campaign aims to reach the most vulnerable children, those left behind by the world's progress in child health, education and protection - including girls. Too many girls, because of who they are or where they're born, face unique challenges. Together, we will improve girls education. We will reach every last girl, empowering her to grow up healthy, educated and safe. Free to lead her own life, speak her mind and determine her future.

Did You Know?

One girl under age 15 is married every seven seconds.

Girls are 3X more likely to be out of school*

Girls are 2X more likely to die from malnutrition*

Girls are 2X more likely to be subjected to sexual violence*

Girls are 2X more likely to get coerced into trafficking*

*Sources: U.N. Foundation; Girls Not Brides

Roja's Story: The Importance of Education For Girls

In Cambodia, nearly 23% of children are out of school. Even more shocking, 52 out of 1,000 girls become adolescent mothers. These are girls denied the opportunities they deserve - and forced to grow up far too fast.

But innocent, eager Roja, age 5, is on the path to a brighter future. She attends a Save the Children early childhood development center near her village. There, we encourage her early learning and development, including drawing and art to enhance creativity. We also train teachers and involve parents, caregivers and whole communities in encouraging girls education and learning opportunities.

Your donation can help educate girls like Roja - giving her best chance for the bright future she deserves.

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A girl is not a statistic or a piece of property. She's a child who deserves a future. Girls the world over face gender discrimination - just for being born a daughter and not a son. A girls education is less likely to be valued, and she's more likely to be forced into early marriage, face violence or be stolen by traffickers.

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Today more girls than ever go to school. However, despite progress, women and girls continue to face multiple barriers based on gender and its intersections with other factors, such as age, ethnicity, poverty, and disability, in the equal enjoyment of the right to quality education. This includes barriers, at all levels, to access quality education and within education systems, institutions, and classrooms, such as, amongst others:

The international community has recognised the equal right to quality education of everyone and committed to achieving gender equality in all fields, including education, through their acceptance of international human rights law. This means that states have legal obligations to remove all discriminatory barriers, whether they exist in law or in everyday life, and to undertake positive measures to bring about equality, including in access of, within, and through education.

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Today more girls than ever go to school. However, despite progress, women and girls continue to face multiple barriers based on gender and its intersections with other factors, such as age, ethnicity, poverty, and disability, in the equal enjoyment of the right to quality education.

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Access to education shouldn't be determined by a child's gender, yet 130 million girls globally are out of school and 15 million girls of primary school age will never even enter a classroom.

Educating girls gives them the freedom to make decisions to improve their lives, which has deep social implications. Giving girls access to schooling is a central part of eradicating global poverty, according to the World Bank, which says better educated women tend to be healthier, participate more in formal labour markets, have fewer children and marry later. The UN's sustainable development goals call for gender equality and a quality education for all by 2030. So what action needs to be taken to overcome the complex global barriers to not only getting girls into school but also providing them with a meaningful education?

These questions were tackled by a panel of experts from the non-profit, academic and private sectors, at a Guardian roundtable event in New York, chaired by Guardian journalist Anna Leach and supported by anti-poverty NGO Opportunity International.

Child marriage

A key obstacle to girls participating in school life is child marriage. Every year 15 million girls under the age of 18 are married.

The reasons for child marriage and a lack of education for girls are complex and interlinked, said Heather Hamilton, deputy executive of Girls not Brides. "Both come from the base view of girls as not as valuable as boys," said Hamilton. "If we don't have local values changing, and support girls as valuable people in their own right ... we're not going to see the shift in outcomes," she added.

One project looking to tackle this is Girl Effect's Yegna, an initiative using music and radio to spread awareness of girls' rights in Ethiopia. It recently tackled child marriage through a radio drama. Research in the Addis Ababa and Amhara regions of the country found that while 53% of boys not aware of Yegna said they would report instances of child marriage, this jumped to 95% among boys who listened to the show. It's not action taken yet, admitted Natalie Au, global gender director of Girl Effect, but it's "an initial first step".

While child marriage has cultural roots, poverty plays a huge role, said Dolores Dixon, executive director in Canada for Camfed, a non-profit working in African countries to support the education of marginalised girls. "Parents who can afford it would not necessarily hold back their children from going to school," said Dixon, "but if you can't afford it you will then have to make a choice ... they feel [marriage] is the best option within the limited options."

Young women who have been through Camfed's education programme, who themselves may have faced child marriage, can be important advocates, said Dixon. "Communities can relate to the examples and their experiences and they can also see role models in front of them," said Dixon.

Engaging these communities must be done sensitively. "It's not trying to turn everything upside down, because you will immediately face resistance," said Eva Halper, director of corporate citizenship at Credit Suisse, "it's finding the right way to approach those challenges from the bottom up."

Halper referred to a project run by education non-profit Room to Read in Tanzania. Girls in some communities there undergo lengthy initiation ceremonies when they reach puberty, after which they are considered adults able to work or marry. Room to Read's approach with the community, said Halper, "is not to say: 'Stop these initiation ceremonies - you can't do that' ... but to reach a compromise of please delay it."

Menstrual health management

The onset of menstruation is another key pressure point for girls' schooling, especially in the developing world. A lack of gender separate bathrooms, no access to sanitary products, teasing from classmates, unsupportive teachers - all can disrupt a girl's ability to participate in school.

"There is shame, there's fear, there's embarrassment," said Marni Sommer, associate professor in sociomedical sciences at Columbia University. "I've been in countries where girls thought if they told anybody [they were menstruating] they'd die." Sommer helped develop puberty books in Ghana and Ethiopia for girls to understand what's happening to their bodies, while also building literacy.

Columbia University and Unicef joined forces in 2014 to map out a 10-year agenda for menstrual health management (MHM), to help girls to manage their periods in school "in a comfortable, safe and dignified way". One of its achievements is to include MHM in all of Unicef's school Wash (water, sanitation and hygiene) programmes across 48 countries.

The project's inclusion of the private sector, social entrepreneurs, donors, researchers and governments has been key to its successes, said Nora Fyles, director of the secretariat for the UN Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI): "This is actually a story of how to do advocacy and come up with an agreement of what is reasonable in 10 years to achieve."

The value of working with different sectors was emphasised by Halla Holmarsdottir, vice-dean, Faculty of Education and International Studies, Oslo and Akershus University: "So often in education we talk to ourselves and there is such a need to talk cross-sector."

India, for example, has had a policy on MHM since 2013, said Archana Patkar, programme manager at the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), but through the ministry of water and sanitation, not health or education.

And we mustn't forget the role of men and boys when it comes to menstruation, added Patkar. Men in the governments of countries in Africa and south Asia, where WSSCC works, have been some of their biggest champions. "If you can actually talk about it with men and women, girls and boys, and replace that stigma, the silence and shame, with information and therefore dignity and pride ... this gives us an opportunity to really open up the space for conversations."

Once girls are in formal education, said Au, "that's better than being out of school, but what's that actual educational journey like for them?"

Keeping girls safe in school

Part of ensuring the education environment benefits girls is about making schools safe, supportive learning spaces. "Gender-based violence in and around school is a reality," said Fyles. The international education sector has spent so long trying to get children into school, especially in the developing world, only to realise girls are facing dangers there, she added. "[Girls] don't think about learning when they're trying to figure out what the next exit is or whether they can go to the toilet and be safe."

The global community has recognised the issue, said Fyles. The UN, for example, has included a commitment to address gender-based violence in its Education 2030 initiative.

"We know that there are some really, really negative experiences around school", said Bourne, who referred to a report that revealed female university students in Liberia were often harassed and pressured into "sex for grades" - where lecturers pressure students to perform sexual acts in return for good grades cards or passing assignments. "But we also need to remember that schools are also really powerful places to help challenge some of the gender norms and some of the social norms that we see around."

Part of that puzzle is providing teachers with the right training. "Teachers have their own agenda, their own experiences," said Holmarsdottir.

She described a school in South Africa where students had chosen a girl as head prefect only to be overruled by teachers who decided it was a boy's job. Teachers need to say to girls: "We do see that you have a role to play, we do want you to continue on, you are important," said Holmarsdottir.

More creativity is needed when considering how to reach girls in remote communities, such as in northern Nigeria, who simply cannot access formal education, said Au. "It's not just bums on seats in schools; we need to be a bit more innovative and progressive about how we go to where the girls are while also getting them into formal processes."

For Girl Effect this meant a project giving girls in northern Nigeria mobile phones to access stories on topics such as safety, relationships and friendships as well as connecting them with trained mentors. "It's a very alternative way for girls to be able to access information and explore their curiosities about growing up," she said.

Life skills such as communication, persistence and negotiation, also have a role to play, said Heather Simpson, chief programme officer of Room to Read. But it's an area often overlooked by ministries of education, she added. The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) in Malawi is one organisation implementing life-skills education with women mentors, who are also providing menstrual pads. "This is the kind of really integrated approach that we need to be supporting," said Hamilton.

"Girls are central to the global poverty story," said Dana Rice, managing director of philanthropy for Opportunity International. But change will be held back until there is a shift in cultural ideas of what a girl is. "It's about how girls value themselves, the voice that they have to articulate what they think, and communities really valuing them as contributors to their own development," said Au.

At the table

Anna Leach (Chair) Deputy editor, Guardian Global Development Professionals Network, Guardian News & Media

Archana Patkar Programme manager, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council

Natalie Au Global gender director, Girl Effect

Halla B Holmarsdottir Vice-dean, Faculty of Education and International Studies, Oslo and Akershus University

Jo Bourne Chief of education, Programme Division, Unicef

Gemma Wilson-Clark Education Adviser, Department for International Development

Nicole Brzeski Co-founder and executive director Global First Ladies Alliance

Dolores Dickson Executive director, Camfed Canada

Nora Fyles Director of the Secretariat for the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative

Eva Halper Director, corporate citizenship, Credit Suisse

Marni Sommer Associate professor, sociomedical sciences, Columbia University

Heather Simpson Chief programme officer, Room to Read

Dana D Rice Managing director, philanthropy, Opportunity International

Heather Hamilton Deputy executive director, Girls Not Brides

Hajra Zahid Programme manager, education and learning, Mastercard Foundation

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Educating girls: the key to tackling global poverty

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Access to education shouldn't be determined by a child's gender, yet 130 million girls globally are out of school and 15 million girls of primary school age will never even enter a classroom. Educating girls gives them the freedom to make decisions to improve their lives, which has deep social implications.

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Despite decades of progress, girls around the world are still unable to go to school at the same rate as boys due to a range of barriers, according to a new report by the United Nations' education body, UNESCO.

UNECO's Gender Education Monitoring ( GEM) Report was the first of two recent reports that shine a light on girls' education around the world.

The GEM report found that only 66% of countries have achieved gender parity in primary school (grades 1-5), meaning that in a third of countries more girls than boys are barred from going to school.
Take Action: Help The Global Partnership For Education Send Girls To School
The problem gets worse as girls grow older - just 45% of countries have gender parity in lower secondary schools (6-8), and 25% in upper secondary schools (9-12).

These disparities highlight the failure of countries throughout the world to live up to international treaties that mandate gender parity in education and highlight the need to invest in girls' education, according to the report.

The launch of the report was celebrated at an event on March 8 at the Scandanavia House in New York City. The event featured speakers such as Marie Paule Roudi, director of UNESCO Liaison Office New York; Nora Fyles, director of UNGEI; and Manos Antoninis, director of the Global Education Monitoring Report. They discussed the links between gender equality in education and development, emphasizing that the UN's Sustainable Development Goals can't be achieved without gender parity in, among other fields, education.

They said that gender discrimination in schools a main obstacle, along with a lack of awareness of girls' right to education and girls' lack of confidence in academics because of cultural stigmas.
Read More: Millions of Children In Emergencies Are Denied an Education. But That Can Change.
On the bright side, they pointed out that this year's report is more comprehensive than the report published in 2002 since this year there was access to more and better data. However, there continues to be gaps in data, which hampers attempts to address the gender gap. The more we know about the problem, the easier it'll be to fix it, they said.

The report also argues that countries have made legal commitments for girls' and women's right to education through international treaties, but aren't necessarily acting on those commitments. Fulfilling those promises means that governments should establish laws and policies that tackle gender discrimination and the obstacles that women and girls face in trying to access education, according to the speakers.

UN / Education Cannot Wait

Other speakers explained how their organizations contribute to reducing the gender gap in education in different countries.

Karen Sherman, president of the Akilah Institute, talked about the importance of having a women-only college in Rwanda to encourage girls to reach higher education while providing them with a safe space to do so. Barry Johnston, associate director of advocacy of the Malala Fund, spoke about Malala's mission to support girls getting an education throughout the world and the projects the organization has been involved in so far.

The Malala Fund focuses in regions where the most girls miss out on secondary education, Johnston said. Its priority countries are Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and countries housing Syrian refugees such as Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. Through its work, the Malala Fund is recognizing that girls in conflict areas and refugee camps encounter even more obstacles to attending school.

Jean-Claude Félix de Rego, permanent representative of Benin to the United Nations, explained the efforts his country has taken to increase the numbers of girls in schools.

The 2018 Gender Review comes at a time when the world is looking at women's rights and gender as key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

However, as Becky Pringle, vice president of the National Education Association, pointed out, "Without women at the table who have the power to make policy, the things that we saw outlined in this report are not going to change." Ensuring more women have access to leadership positions in government is crucial to increasing the number of policies that address gender disparity.

"Women in leadership positions tend to favour the equitable redistribution of resources, and legislatures with a higher share of women on average tend to support health, education and social welfare spending at the expense of defence spending," according to the report.
Read More: 10 Barriers to Education Around the World
This reality was echoed in the UNHCR's Her Turn report, launched the same day as the GEM report, which shows that gender disparities are worse for girls in emergency settings. Her Turn highlights the fact that refugee girls are half as likely to be in school as refugee boys.

Only 61% of refugee children have access to primary education, compared to an international average of 91%. At secondary level, 23% of refugee adolescents go to school, compared to 84% globally, according to UNHCR.

The situation becomes more pressing when considering the correlation between women's education and children's health in emergencies, with the health risks even greater for children on the move.

Yet if all girls in emergencies received a primary level education, child deaths from diarrhea, malaria, and pneumonia would fall, according to the report. Deaths from diarrhoea, for example, the third-most frequent cause of child mortality, would be reduced by 8% if all mothers completed primary education, or by 30% if they had secondary education.

UN / Education Cannot Wait

Education is also key to eliminating child marriage, which girls in emergencies are more susceptible to because they often lack a home and guardians.

If all girls completed primary school, child marriage would fall by 14%, according to UNESCO. If they all finished secondary school, it would plummet by 64%. Education can also reduce child marriage in the coming generations since educated mothers are more likely to send their children to school, especially their daughters. As a result, those women are more likely to encourage their daughters to attain secondary and tertiary-level education.
Read More: From Facebook to Festivals, How Global Citizens Got Denmark to Deliver $11.2 Million for Education
As girls get older, the gender gap in schools keeps growing. One of the reasons is the lack of access to toilets and sanitary products, a significant problem for girls during their period. For example, menstruation leads girls in sub-Saharan Africa to miss four days of school every four weeks, adding up to a loss of 10-20% of school time.

What these two reports make clear is that there's still lots of work to be done to ensure all girls receive quality education, especially refugee girls. This is why Global Citizen is committed to girls' education. Together, we can make sure there's gender equality in schools. You can take action on this issue here.

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Girls Are Still Left Behind When It Comes to Education: Report

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Despite decades of progress, girls around the world are still unable to go to school at the same rate as boys due to a range of barriers, according to a new report by the United Nations' education body, UNESCO.

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Creating more opportunities for young women and girls to work and earn money is a possible solution to early marriages. Subsidising secondary education to keep poorer girls in school is another.

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Girls education News, Research and Analysis - The Conversation

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Creating more opportunities for young women and girls to work and earn money is a possible solution to early marriages. Subsidising secondary education to keep poorer girls in school is another.

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Ensuring that all girls and young women receive a quality education is their human right, a global development priority, and a strategic priority for the World Bank.

Achieving gender equality is central to the World Bank Group twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. As the largest financing development partner in education globally, the World Bank ensures that all of its education projects are gender-sensitive, and works to overcome barriers that are preventing girls and boys from equally benefiting from countries' investments in education.

Girls' education goes beyond getting girls into school. It is also about ensuring that girls learn and feel safe while in school; have the opportunity to complete all levels of education, acquiring the knowledge and skills to compete in the labor market; gain socio-emotional and life skills necessary to navigate and adapt to a changing world; make decisions about their own lives; and contribute to their communities and the world.

Both individuals and countries benefit from girls' education. Better educated women tend to be more informed about nutrition and healthcare, have fewer children, marry at a later age, and their children are usually healthier, should they choose to become mothers. They are more likely to participate in the formal labor market and earn higher incomes. A recent World Bank study estimates that the "limited educational opportunities for girls, and barriers to completing 12 years of education, cost countries between US$15 trillion1 and $30 trillion in lost lifetime productivity and earnings." All these factors combined can help lift households, communities, and countries out of poverty.
The Challenge
According to UNESCO estimates, around the world, 129 million girls are out of school, including 32 million of primary school age, and 97 million of secondary school age.

Globally, primary, and secondary school enrollment rates are getting closer to equal for girls and boys (90% male, 89% female). But while enrollment rates are similar - in fact, two-thirds of all countries have reached gender parity in primary school enrollment - completion rates for girls are lower in low-income countries where 63% of female primary school students complete primary school, compared to 67% of male primary school students. In low-income countries, secondary school completion rates for girls also continue to lag, with only 36% of girls completing lower secondary school compared to 44% of boys. Upper secondary completion rates have similar disparities in lower income countries, the rate is 26% for young men and 21% for young women.

The gaps are starker in countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV). In FCV countries, girls are 2.5 times more likely to be out of school than boys, and at the secondary level, are 90% more likely to be out of secondary school than those in non-FCV contexts.

Both girls and boys are facing a learning crisis. Learning Poverty (LP) measures the share of children who are not able to read proficiently at age 10. While girls are on average 4 percentage points less learning-poor than boys, the rates remain very high for both groups. The average of Learning Poverty in in low- and middle- income countries is 55% for females, and 59% for males. The gap is narrower in low-income countries, where Learning Poverty averages about 93% for both boys and girls.

In many countries, enrollment in tertiary education slightly favors young women, however, better learning outcomes are not translating into better work and life outcomes for women. There is a large gender gap in labor force participation rates globally. It is especially stark in regions such as South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, which have some of the lowest female labor force participation rates at 24% and 20% per region, respectively. These are appallingly low rates, considering what is observed in other regions like Latin America (53%) or East Asia (59%), which are still below rates for men.

Gender bias within schools and classrooms may also reinforce messages that affect girls' ambitions, their own perceptions of their roles in society, and produce labor market engagement disparities and occupational segregation. When gender stereotypes are communicated through the design of school and classroom learning environments or through the behavior of faculty, staff, and peers in a child's school, it goes on to have sustained impact on academic performance and choice of field of study, especially negatively affecting young women pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

Poverty is one of the most important factors for determining whether a girl can access and complete her education. Studies consistently reinforce that girls who face multiple disadvantages - such as low family income, living in remote or underserved locations or who have a disability or belong to a minority ethno-linguistic group - are farthest behind in terms of access to and completion of education.

Violence also prevents girls from accessing and completing education - often girls are forced to walk long distances to school placing them at an increased risk of violence and many experience violence while at school. Most recent data estimates that approximately 60 million girls are sexually assaulted on their way to or at school every year. This often has serious consequences for their mental and physical health and overall well-being while also leading to lower attendance and higher dropout rates. An estimated 246 million children experience violence in and around school every year, ending school-related gender-based violence is critical. Adolescent pregnancies can be a result of sexual violence or sexual exploitation. Girls who become pregnant often face strong stigma, and even discrimination, from their communities. The burden of stigma, compounded by unequal gender norms, can lead girls to drop out of school early and not return.

Child marriage is also a critical challenge. Girls who marry young are much more likely to drop out of school, complete fewer years of education than their peers who marry later. They are also more likely to have children at a young age and are exposed to higher levels of violence perpetrated by their partner. In turn, this affects the education and health of their children, as well as their ability to earn a living. Indeed, girls with secondary schooling are up to six times more likely to marry as those children with little or no education. According to a recent report, more than 41,000 girls under the age of 18 marry every day. Putting an end to this practice would increase women's expected educational attainment, and with it, their potential earnings. According to the report's estimates, ending child marriage could generate more than US$500 billion in benefits annually each year.

COVID-19 is having a negative impact on girls' health and well-being - and many are at risk of not returning to school once they reopen. Available research shows that prevalence of violence against girls and women has increased during the pandemic - jeopardizing their health, safety and overall well-being. As school closures and quarantines were enforced during the 2014‐2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, women and girls experienced more sexual violence, coercion and exploitation. School closures during the Ebola outbreak were associated with an increase in teenage pregnancies. Once schools re-opened, many "visibly pregnant girls" were banned from going back to school. With schools closing throughout the developing world, where stigma around teenage pregnancies prevails, we will probably see an increase in drop-out rates as teenage girls become pregnant or married. As girls stay at home because of school closures, their household work burdens might increase, resulting in girls spending more time helping out at home instead of studying. This might encourage parents, particularly those putting a lower value on girls' education, to keep their daughters at home even after schools reopen. Moreover, research shows that girls risk dropping out of school when caregivers are missing from the household because they typically have to (partly) replace the work done by the missing caregiver, who might be away due to COVID-19-related work, illness, or death. Therefore, with the current COVID-19 pandemic, we might see more girls than boys helping at home, lagging behind with studying, and dropping out of school.

Last Updated: Feb 10, 2022

The World Bank is committed to seeing every girl prosper in her life. Our projects support the education of hundreds of millions of girls and young women across the world. Working through interventions in education, health, social protection, water, infrastructure, and other sectors, we are making an even stronger commitment to support countries in ensuring that every girl receives the quality education she deserves.

Our 180 projects are impacting more than 150 million girls and young women worldwide. Hundreds of millions more have been impacted over the past few decades.

We tackle key barriers that girls and young women face when trying to obtain an education. Guided by evidence on what works for girls' education, our projects use multi-pronged approaches across areas including:
1. Removing barriers to schooling

Addressing financial barriers, through scholarships, stipends, grants, conditional cash transfers

Addressing long distances and lack of safety to and from school by building schools, providing transportation methods for girls to get to school

Addressing a lack of information about returns to girls' education but running community awareness campaigns engaging parents, school leaders, and local community leaders

Working with the community to address and inform on social and cultural norms and perceptions that may prevent girls' education

2. Promoting safe and inclusive schools

By constructing and rehabilitating schools to create safe and inclusive learning environments,

Efforts at the community- and school-levels, and programs to engage the school (including teachers, girls, and boys) in reducing gender-based violence (GBV) and ensuring available mechanisms to report GBV

Support for hygiene facilities and menstrual hygiene management for adolescent girls

3. Improving the quality of education

Investing in teacher professional development, eliminating gender biases in curriculum and teaching practices, and focusing on foundational learning

Adapting teaching and learning materials, and books to introduce gender sensitive language, pictorial aspects, and messaging

4. Developing skills and empowering girls for life and labor market success

Promoting girls' empowerment, skills development programs and social programs

Prioritizing and promoting women in STEM subjects and careers in both traditional and non-traditional sectors

Reducing barriers and providing incentives through scholarships for women to enroll in higher education and TVET programs

Support for childcare programs for women and girls to join the labor market

For more information on our girls' education investment and projects, please read Count Me In: The World Bank Education Global Practice: Improving Education Outcomes for Girls and Women, which highlights our decades-long commitment to girls' education, and showcases how Education GP projects are creating opportunities for girls around the world to succeed in their education and beyond.
Last Updated: Oct 26, 2021

The WBG supports girls' education through a variety of interventions. Our focus on girls' education and wellbeing goes beyond school attendance and learning outcomes - we strive to ensure girls have safe, joyful, and inclusive experience with education systems that set them up for success in life and motivate them to become lifelong learners. This approach, reflected in the current Education portfolio impacting at least 150 million girls and young women, prioritizes investments in four key areas listed below.
1. Removing barriers to girls' schooling

Our projects providing stipends to improve primary and secondary school completion for girls and young women in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Sahel benefit close to half a million girls.

Our Girls Empowerment and Learning for All Project in Angola will use a variety of financial incentives to attract adolescent girls to schools, including scholarships, and new school spaces for girls.

The AGILE (Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment) project in Nigeria is providing conditional cash transfers to households for sending girls to school, removing cost barriers to their education.

The MIQRA (Mali Improving Education Quality and Results for All Project) has a school feeding and nutrition program targeted at retention and attendance for girls in schools.

2. Promoting safe and inclusive schools for girls

In Tanzania, the Bank is supporting the training of a counselor in every school who will provide life-skills training in girls' and boys' clubs - which is important because closing gender gaps is not only about interventions for girls but also for boys.

In Nigeria, female counselors will provide life skills training to about 340,000 girls in safe spaces. Several of our other projects also support the construction of separate sanitary toilets for girls, as well as introducing GBV-reducing and reporting mechanisms in school systems.

3. Improving the quality of education for girls (and boys)

In Ghana, the Accountability and Learning Outcomes Project is conducting teacher training for gender-sensitive instruction, and aims to create guides for teachers to support gender sensitivity in classrooms.

In Honduras, the Early Childhood Education Improvement Project, will create a revised preschool curriculum that will include content on gender equity, inclusion, and violence prevention, as well as training for teachers, including training to combat GBV.

The Girls Empowerment and Quality Education for All Project in Sao Tome & Principe is creating girls' clubs after school, where they are also provided with life skills training, and counseling.

4. Developing skills for life and labor market success for young women

The Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Project in Nepal is focusing on increasing access to tertiary education for young women from low-income groups, and additional providing scholarships for the poorest applications, alongside communication and advocacy campaigns for more female enrollment in STEM subjects.

The ASSET (Accelerating and Strengthening Skills for Economic Transformation) project in Bangladesh is working to increase the participation of women in skills training programs, and conducting awareness and communications campaigns to address dropout.

In Pakistan, the Higher Education Development project seeks to support women enrolled in STEM programs, with an aim to move them from 2-year to more comprehensive 4-year programs.

The Higher Education Project in Moldova and the Higher Education Modernization Project in Belarus will both support and finance activities to increase enrollment of women in STEM fields. The Côte d'Ivoire Higher Education Development Support Project provides scholarships for women in higher education, and extra tutoring support for females pursuing STEM subjects.

Schemes to increase participation of girls in higher education. Through the Africa Centers of Excellence (ACE) project, the Bank has supported increased enrollment of females in masters and PhD programs. The number of female students in ACE centers was 343 in 2014 and is now 3,400 in 2020; a tenfold increase. The Bank is also building the pipeline of female students interested in computer science and engineering programs and retain them.

For more information on our girls' education investment and projects, please read Count Me In: The World Bank Education Global Practice: Improving Education Outcomes for Girls and Women, which highlights our decades-long commitment to girls' education, and showcases how Education GP projects are creating opportunities for girls around the world to succeed in their education and beyond.
Last Updated: Oct 26, 2021

The WBG works closely with governments and other development organizations on girls' education issues to identify and advance interventions that improve girls' education outcomes and provide resources to support countries implementing such initiatives. Partnerships both within and outside of the World Bank are critical to the Education GP's work on girls' education. The Education GP works with other global practices in the Bank to improve girls' education-for example, collaborating with the Water GP for access to sanitation and hygiene in schools, with Social Protection and Jobs GP for challenges related to labor market transition, or Energy GP to improve school safety.

The World Bank collaborates actively with many donors and organizations. As a signatory to the G7 Charlevoix Commitment, the Bank has already committed an estimated $2.5 billion to girls' education in FCV countries as of September 2021-exceeding its pledge of $2.0 billion from 2018 to 2023.

The Education GP:

is collaborating with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office FCDO (UK) about targets and high-level engagement with G7 donors, to support aid and financial commitment for girls' education;

is a member of the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Girls' EiE Reference Group, which seeks to further research and advocacy for girls' education in emergencies;

a member of the UNESCO Gender Flagship Reference Group and has provided technical contributions to the UNESCO-commissioned study (December 2020-July 2021); and

is working closely with the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) as the implementing agency for 54 percent of the total GPE grants of $3.62 billion, that support girls' education.

is a member of the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI), which comprises over 20 partners representing multilateral, bilateral, civil society, and non-governmental organizations.

collaborated with the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) to produce Economic Impacts of Child Marriage, a recent report detailing the effects of child marriage, which was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, and GPE.

Last Updated: Oct 26, 2021

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This page looks at why girls and young women miss out on school - even though educating girls has huge benefits for health, prosperity and security. This page explains more about the impact of a safe, quality education for girls and examines the barriers that prevent them from getting an education.

The issue of girls and education

Girls have the right same right to education as boys. Educated girls can make informed choices - and from a far better range of options. Educating girls saves lives and builds stronger families, communities and economies.

An educated female population increases a country's productivity and fuels economic growth. Some countries lose more than $1 billion a year by failing to educate girls to the same level as boys.

Despite this, girls and young women in many parts of the world miss out on school every day. Around 61 million girls are of school, according to UNICEF in 2016 - 32 million girls of primary school age and 29 million of lower secondary school age.

Often, girls are marginalised and are out of school simply because they are girls and it is not the cultural norm. Their chances of getting a quality education are even smaller if they come from a poor family, live in a rural area or have a disability.

Girls are four times more likely to be out of school than boys from the same background. The poorest girls also have the least likelihood of completing primary school.

There are often legal, religious and traditional practices that discriminate against girls having the chance to get an education.

What progress has been made on girls' education?

There has been improvement in gender equality in education. Between 2000 and 2015, the number of girls for every 100 boys in primary education rose from 92 to 97 and from 91 to 97 in secondary education.

The number of countries that achieved gender parity in both primary and secondary education from 2000 to 2015 increased from 36 to 62. But the overall improvement does not tell the full story. Some parts of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia, are not making as much progress.

Only two of 35 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have equal numbers of girls and boys in school - the lowest proportion of countries with gender parity - according to the Education Commission's Learning Generation report in 2016.

In South and West Asia, 80% of out-of-school girls are unlikely ever to start school, compared to just 16% of boys.

Many countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria, have seen attacks on girls' education and threats to close down schools.

The world has committed to continue to make progress through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 4 aims to "ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education". Goal 5 is focused on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.

"Every girl, no matter where she lives, no matter what her circumstance, has a right to learn. Every leader, no matter who he or she is or the resources available to him or her, has a duty to fulfil and protect this right." Malala Yousafzai, Student, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and Co-Founder of the Malala Fund, in the foreword to the research report 'What Works in Girls' Education

Why is educating girls so important?

Every child has a right to learn and get a good quality education, regardless of gender, where they live or their circumstances.

Because educated girls can make informed choices from a far better range of options, educating girls saves lives and builds stronger families, communities and economies. With an education, girls will understand their rights, have a greater sense what is needed to support health and wellbeing, and they will have greater opportunities to be employed in a fulfilling way and achieve their full potential.

Here are just some of the benefits of giving girls an equal opportunity to be educated:

Education for girls and boys increases productivity and contributes to economic growth. Globally, women are not in the formal job market as much as men but many studies show there are economic benefits if they are allowed to join the labour force.

Educating girls and young women increases a country's productivity and contributes to economic growth. Some countries lose more than $1 billion a year by failing to educate girls to the same level as boys.

A woman with an education can get a better job with higher wages and has the effect of addressing gender imbalances in the labour force. Increased levels of education have a greater positive impact on women's wages.

According to an International Labor Organization report, "Educating girls has proven to be one of the most important ways of breaking poverty cycles and is likely to have significant impacts on access to formal jobs in the longer term."

Health knowledge saves children's lives

A child born to a literate mother is 50% more likely to survive past the age of five. Over the past four decades, the global increase in women's education has prevented more than four million child deaths.

Educated mothers are better informed about sanitation, nutrition and immunisation for their children, leading to fewer child deaths from preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria or from malnutrition.

Smaller and more sustainable families

Girls' education helps reduce population growth. Educated women have fewer pregnancies and are also less likely to become pregnant as teenagers.

In many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the birth rate among girls with secondary education is four times lower compared to those with no education.

Reduced infection rates for HIV/AIDS and malaria

When researchers analysed the declining HIV/AIDS infection rate in Zimbabwe from 29% of the population to 16% from 1997 to 2007, they found that high levels of girls completing secondary education was an important factor in making awareness campaigns and efforts to reduce infection by partners more effective.

Better-educated girls and women are also more likely to use techniques to prevent malaria, such as using bed nets, and are less likely to become infected.

Girls who are better educated are less likely to be married as children and are more likely to have opportunities for a healthier and more prosperous life for themselves and their families.

Across 18 of the 20 countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage, girls with no education are up to six times more likely to marry as children than girls with a secondary education.

Better prepared for natural disasters and climate change

Higher levels of education generally help prepare families for coping with shocks. Girls' education in particular is associated with reduced injury and death and increased family and community resilience from the hazards of natural disasters and extreme weather that results from climate change.

A 2010 World Bank study of developing countries from 1960 to 2003 found that countries with higher levels of female schooling were less likely to suffer high rates of death, injury, and displacement due to weather disasters.

When girls go to school, they grow into women who have more say over their lives and have an increased sense of their worth and capabilities. They are less likely to be subjected to domestic violence and will participate more in decision-making in households.

Education helps women to gain the skills needed to take on leadership roles at local and national levels. Better-educated women are more likely to join bodies, whether volunteer or elected, where they can take part in making decisions that affect their lives and those of their communities.

What are the barriers to girls' education?

They include:

Girls from the poorest and rural households face the greatest disadvantages because parents are less educated and therefore may value education less. Rural communities have fewer support systems, often forcing girls to work or manage their household.

Many girls begin working as early as five years old - mainly in agriculture or in homes as domestic servants. Child domestic workers have limited or no access to education as employers often do not allow them to enrol in school.

Women and girls disproportionately share the burden and care of ill family members and relatives. This affects not only whether they can attend school but also the time and energy they can devote to schoolwork.

Due to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, poor girls can spend six hours each day collecting water, leaving little time for school. Those girls who do go to school often drop out when they start to menstruate because there is no safe place to keep clean at school.

Girls living in conflict-affected countries are 90% more likely to be out of secondary school than those living in peaceful areas. Schools can be destroyed in conflict situations, while targeted attacks on girls' schools can make parents afraid to send their daughters to school. In humanitarian emergencies, including natural disasters, increased poverty for families and lack of employment opportunities means girls are at higher risk of early marriage or ending up in prostitution.

Every year 15 million girls under the age of 18 become wives - an average of 40,000 every day. Marriage interrupts and ends girls' education so they don't gain the skills that could lift them out of poverty - over 60% of child brides in developing countries have no formal education. Many cannot return to school after marriage because they cannot afford to pay school fees. Child marriage also means girls have early and frequent pregnancies, which contributes to higher rates of girls dropping out of school.

Each year about 16 million girls between 15 and 19 give birth. Stigma, lack of support and discriminatory laws around pregnancy exclude girls from school, forcing them to stay at home and care for their children. Childcare and flexible school programmes or adult classes are not available to them.

Globally between 93 million and 150 million children live with a disability. The World Health Organization and the World Bank estimate that in some countries "being disabled more than doubles the chance of never enrolling in school".

Girls with disabilities face discrimination both because of their gender and their disability, making them among the most marginalised groups of children. Respondents to the World Health Survey 2002-2004 indicated that 41.7% of girls with a disability completed primary school compared to 52.9% for those without a disability.

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Millions of girls and young women miss out on school - even though educating girls has huge benefits for health, prosperity and security. There has been progress but much work is still needed to break down barriers that prevent girls from going to school such as child marriage and cultural discrimination.

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This literature review will trace the recent history of the globalisation of human rights with reference to education, particularly for girls and women, but also looking more broadly to include education for boys and men. The main paradigms - traditional, neo-liberalism and philanthrocapitalism - for providing education in developing countries will be defined. This will be followed by a consideration of the lack of forethought and the difficulties encountered in providing education for females, along with techniques suggested for addressing the issues. There will be a brief look at the way forward. This is a fluid, changing area as conferences and committees around the world are continually meeting, and new ideas, values and goals are being proposed for consideration.

Introduction

There has been so much written on the effects of educating girls on development and social change that articles no longer reference these claims. The rhetoric has been in the range of the hyperbole as educated girls are seen as the solution to all development problems. Once educated, girls and women will realise the global dream of freedom for all. They will annihilate poverty, increase the health of society, control family size, create harmonious societies where all are equal, be represented in the workforce in direct ratio to their numbers, take their rightful place in governing the state, eliminate child marriage and female genital mutilation, and prevent violence, conflict and wars. 'The closest to a silver bullet in human development is educating women, and particularly mothers' ( Malik, 2014). Experience has shown that achieving this Utopia depends on many factors, not the single factor of educating girls and women. As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) deadline of 2015 approaches, institutions, governments, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), academics and individuals are examining progress made and obstacles encountered, and rethinking and realigning goals towards 2020 and beyond.

Early ideas

Human rights and freedom have been discussed for centuries, but it was the shock of learning of the horrors of the Second World War that galvanised countries into action. As a consequence, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was signed in 1948 by 48 countries. This established the philosophy of the right of all people to live in freedom, justice and peace, and was followed by the adoption in 1966 of two treaties, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both entering into force in 1976. These two have been combined with the UDHR to form the International Bill of Human Rights. This Bill was the precursor to the MDGs laid down in the year 2000 by the United Nations, signed by 189 countries. Over the 52 years in between the UDHR and the MDGs, political climates changed in many countries and issues once seen as obstacles no longer existed. Apartheid was no longer a policy in South Africa, communism with its restrictions on travel for its citizens had lost its grip on the Soviet Union, which, in itself, had devolved into many countries. Globalisation of values and rights for humanity became a possible aim, and the year 2015 was set down as the target date.

Two MDGs referred directly to education, girls and women. MDG2 aimed to achieve universal primary education: the target being to ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, would be able to complete a full course of primary training. MDG3 aimed to promote gender equality and empower women with its target being to eliminate disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015 (Millennium Development Goals, n.d.).

Participating countries, non-governmental and non-profit organisations and capitalist corporates enthusiastically applied their energies to achieving these targets. In many countries programmes had already been instituted to address inequalities in education and the MDGs added an urgency and deadline. Strong support for the far-reaching effects of educating girls and women emerged and continues to emerge in NGO vision statements, academic journals, websites, and news articles. The Economic and Social Council Ministerial Declaration (2010) stressed that 'investing in women and girls has a multiplier effect on productivity, efficiency, and sustained economic growth'; the World Bank (2014) notes that education is the key to empowering women. The Department for International Development (DFID) also supports girls' education as it restates its vision for girls and women in 2013 as 'Voice, Choice and Control' ( Department for International Development, 2013). The Global Poverty Project (2008), an Australian-based project, has as part of its vision 'empowering girls and women to end poverty and create a healthier, wealthier and better educated community'. The Global Education First Initiative (GEFI), instigated by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, states in its brochure ( Global Education First Initiative, 2014) that 'educated women are more likely to have decent working conditions, delay child-bearing, resist violence, denounce injustice, and participate in political processes'. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), on its website ( United Nations Population Fund, 2014), calls the education and empowering of women 'an indispensable tool for advancing development and reducing poverty'. The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), in its conference paper (2013), stressed the importance of education for women, especially in conflict and post-conflict Africa, in order to provide better economic prospects and create healthier families. Although not focusing specifically on women, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) (2014) aims to promote equality and human rights. As participants in the Baku Forum (2013), the OIC is committed to international gender equality standards and to protecting girls' and women's rights. The Girl Effect, a collaboration between the DFID and the Nike Foundation, has used the slogan 'Invest in a girl and she will do the rest' ( The Girl Effect, 2014). According to CARE's Education Plus report ( CARE, 2010), 'the world's future will be largely shaped by today's girls and tomorrow's women'. The Council of Europe (COE) (2014) considers gender equality in education to be 'part of an overall strategy for a more egalitarian and democratic society'.

Individuals have added their voices to the case for education of women. Jejeebhoy (1995) was a vocal early supporter of the education of women. Glewwe (1999) recognised that educating mothers would have a direct effect on the health of their families even though this knowledge was not usually taught in schools. With literacy and numeracy skills, mothers would be able to understand and implement better health knowledge they would acquire. Roudi-Fahini and Moghadam (2003) noted that the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 recognised that women's literacy was the key to empowerment. Stromquist (2006), after studying an extensive body of empirical findings, strongly linked the empowerment of women to better health for the whole family, better economic control and less physical violence. Malala Yousafzai, who was nearly killed in Pakistan for speaking out for the rights of all children, but especially girls, to an education, stated in a speech to the United Nations in 2013, 'Let us pick up our books and our pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution' ( Devani, 2013).

There appeared to be a consensus among countries' representatives and organisations that education for girls and women would solve many of the world's problems, but initially little consideration was given to the appropriateness of the education.

Three paradigms for guiding the provision of education in developing countries have become evident: traditional, neo-liberalism and philanthrocapitalism. In traditional education, the emphasis is on pure learning, promoting intellectual enquiry and debate once the basic skills are learned. Education is seen as an holistic enterprise in which people learn to think, synthesise, evaluate and assess without the constraints of capitalistic outcomes. Traditional education prepares students to cope with an ever-changing world, but what is appropriate for one country or culture may not be suitable for another. Neo-liberal education, on the other hand, encourages links between business, industry and higher education. It is used as a tool, even a weapon of influence, by financiers to develop economic strength and power. Education is managed as a business, often by non-academics, with targets and specific outcomes required. Focus tends to be on the 'successful' students. This may be to the students' own detriment as their fields of study may have been limited and they are not able to adapt easily as career options change. Philanthrocapitalism in education provides knowledge and skills with a capitalistic focus. As in neo-capitalism, the bottom line is profit. Business knowledge is provided in under-developed countries so that students can operate a business for the benefactor. While this is a laudable outcome in the short term, the limited education does not encourage flexibility if the political/cultural climate changes.

With funding being provided by the countries of the Global North, many programmes sought to impose a Western style of education on the under-developed countries. The pedagogy and curriculum were instituted without regard to the local culture, religion and needs. Many scholars voiced their concern. Amin (2009) warned that the MDGs were a cover for academic colonialism and capitalist domination by the 'Triad', the name given to the US, Europe and Japan as a consortium. Kwarteng (2014) made a strong case for Afrocentricity which 'eschews uncritical copying of non-African ideas'. He cited successes in regional organisations by 'building a system of cultural pride and independence' and 'rejecting western stifling control and patronage'. Kwarteng, along with Afrocentricity International, advocated the 'recovery of African centeredness in education'.

Just as Western academic imperialism was not welcomed, neither was the neo-liberal system of education. The World Bank, which is a partner with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), had clearly been using neo-liberal educational reforms, according to Lincove (2009). He was concerned that free markets did not necessarily promote equity; experience had shown that the gender gap could be widened. Schools no longer controlled their budgets and curriculum, a situation that could lead to abuse. Parents, themselves lacking education, were not always in the best position to make decisions. Reid-Henry (2012) supported this idea, stating 'Neoliberalism is any idea that is pro-market and anti-government intervention ... to support the interests of big business, transnational corporations and finance. It seeks not so much a free market, therefore, as a market free for powerful interests'. The profit motive became the goal, development was about 'Trade, not aid'. The neo-liberalist theory was that, if the 'corrupt' state was not involved, social justice and human development would automatically follow. Such an uncompromising approach, according to Reid-Henry, was likely to fail.

Even in developed countries, neo-liberalism in education attracts its critics. Ravitch (2014) describes the neo-liberalist educational policies in the US as 'The Reign of Error - the hoax of the privatization movement and the danger to America's public schools', which is the title of her newly published book. Ravitch is very critical of the system of charter schools, while she acknowledges that they range from excellent to awful. In a review of her book, Featherstone (2014) describes how Ravitch believes that neo-liberalism and the free market favour those who are wealthier and more educated, thus creating more inequality. According to Ravitch, the quality of teaching overall could be improved, but the cause of inequality in outcomes was not teaching but rather social concerns such as jobs, housing, healthcare and early childhood education.

In developing countries, there have been further theoretical criticisms of educational programmes. Ramalingam (2010) described the problem as applying the MDGs using results-based management, with targets and indicators being specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This created the paradoxical situation of 'We'll give you budget if you tell us for sure what you are doing will work'. Ramalingam claimed that development was not so easy to predict or steer. Vernon and Baksh (2010) argued that the educational MDGs represented the wrong view of change. The means and the ends were confused, the goals were set globally instead of locally, and were unrealistic. Consequently, the development process was obstructed when the aim was to precipitate change. In its own evaluation of the contribution to the reduction in poverty (2012), UNDP made recommendations to create a community of dialogue between all stakeholders - national, local, parents and religious leaders. There should be a more holistic approach, considering effects of programmes on livelihoods, governance and environment. A balance is required between control upwards and downwards, and rigorous and broad evaluations are essential.

Philanthrocapitalism is another system for providing education for under-developed countries. Jenkins (2011) describes this as a blend of philanthropy and capitalism and is an 'ambitious new movement of charitable-giving promoted by ultra-rich social investors, not traditional donors using big-business strategies'. These mega-rich corporations are bestowing their tax-free profits on worthy causes, while at the same time seeking a hands-on approach with the aim of persuading governments, businesses and other funders to accept their vision and their proposed solutions. They have the attitude that, because they have been successful in business, they can fix the social ills of society. In essence, they are looking for sub-contractors to carry out their vision, not people who have strengths and visions of their own. Microfinancing 'appears' to be successful; cases are cited where individuals have achieved economic freedom. Yet there is no such evidence that individual cases have had an effect on the community, transforming it from a poor one to a wealthy one. Without the broader goals of creating political, social and cultural shifts, 'increasing individual participation in markets is likely to reproduce existing inequalities rather than unsettle hierarchies' ( Jenkins, 2011: 53). Dependency develops and democracy is undermined. Two Foundations highlight the contrasting approaches: the Gates Foundation defines the problems, sets agenda and strategy; the Ford Foundation works with the donees and their innovative ideas to problem-solve.

The 5by20 project fits the definition of philanthrocapitalism, although the spin-off is the propagation of the corporation behind it. Instituted by Coca-Cola, this project has as its target 5 million women in business by 2020 ( 5by20 Coca-Cola, 2013). Coca-Cola's belief that investing in women can strengthen entire communities and bolster local economies lies behind this altruistic dream. Economic empowerment is offered to women globally by providing business skills training, loans and financial services and assets, and peer networks and mentoring. According to its website, working in collaboration with businesses, government and civil society is critical to 5by20's success; this is not a characteristic of philanthrocapitalism, but it is difficult to know what actually happens behind the public relations image. Schwartz (2012), while acknowledging the good that Coca-Cola achieves, questions the ethics of blending profit margins with morals. He raises the issue that many poor communities in Coca-Cola's already established markets such as the US would also benefit from such a project, yet no such offer is made to them. Schwartz's editor suggests the project is seen as a social enterprise rather than a philanthropic endeavour and in this light it looks a lot better.

The philanthropic wing of the Nike Foundation is the Girl Effect campaign. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) (2012) has critically reviewed a subsidiary of this campaign, the Girl Hub, which is a joint venture between the DFID and the Nike Foundation and attracted a £11.6m grant. The review found that there was a lack of clarity over goals, poor budgeting and financial monitoring, short-coming in its governance and in its plans to translate its vision of increasing adolescent girls' involvement in the design of policies that affect them. Its focus was on what girls could do for development rather than what development could do for girls. They criticised the simple solution of 'Invest in a girl, she will do the rest' as too simplistic for a complex set of problems.

Teaching quality

So many more children may be in primary school, yet the quality of teaching is so poor that often the educational, social, and economic gains hoped for are not achieved. The Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report (GMR) 2013/2014 warns that, although access has improved, sub-standard education has left a 'legacy of illiteracy' ( EFA, 2014). The Report states that 250 million children are not learning basic skills even though over half of them have spent at least four years in school.

In Uganda, it appears little attention has been given to learning outcomes. In a study in 2013, not even 1% of children in 10 schools could read at least 60 words per minute in the local language ( Munthali, 2014). In Kenya, there was an increase of 20% school enrolment from 2003 to 2010, but there were few teachers, books or schools. The resources could not cope; the quality of teaching was poor and absenteeism was rife ( Boit, 2014). Although the statistics say enrolment levels in Benin have gone from one of the lowest in 1990 to the second highest in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2014, girls are subjected to sexual harassment from teachers and professors, beginning at primary level ( O'Neill, 2014). She says increasing access is not enough; girls underperform or drop out rather than be subjected to sexual blackmail, and until this is addressed there will be no quality education. In sub-Sahara generally, the education system is producing unskilled youth who are unemployable because of a low level learning ( Ogwo and Ezekoye, 2014). Mikulska (2014) also raises the issue of poor teaching in reference to South Sudan. Enrolment is very low, but of those 17% who reach grade 8, very few learn anything useful for employment. An over-ambitious curriculum in Tanzania has resulted in poor-quality teaching as students rely on rote learning without understanding to pass tests ( Naylor, 2014).

Even in 2003, Roudi-Fahimi and Moghadam were concerned about the standard of education in the Middle East and North Africa. They saw the situation as slowly changing, as mainly educated women activists became champions of change. Statistics are available for the percentage of students by gender that are enrolled, which are near parity in this region as in many others, but there are no statistics on the quality of education or whether the missing percentages are located in particular sections of society. Many of the reports do indicate that rural and poorer communities are less well served.

Sawamura (2014) is defensive of teachers in Kenya. Despite difficult conditions, many of them have a genuine vocation to teach and do the best they can. A recent comment in the group 'Education in Developing Countries' on LinkedIn highlights a few of the difficulties. A teacher describes how he has 'to go to collect salary twenty kilometres away from my school on unmotorable road or crossing a river by boat to the only rural bank in a district capital'. Sawamura suggests the environment is examined before the teachers are criticised for poor teaching.

Another factor affecting educational quality is the attitude of a local community or culture towards a teacher. Fernandez-Chung and Loh (2014) and Bong-Gun (2014) describe the 'Trinity' of king, teacher and father in traditional Korean culture that accorded respect and love to these three. In recent years, the government has introduced a neo-liberal economic policy that regarded teachers as ordinary workers in the labour market. This has hurt the self-esteem and morale of teachers, who now need to work to re-establish their sense of vocation and create a balance between school, state, and the market. Mason (2014) attributes the success of teachers in countries such as Finland, Japan and Singapore partly to the high status of the teaching profession in those countries. In China there has been a long history of respecting teachers, who tend to be very passionate about and committed to their learners ( Li, 2014). The Cultural Revolution was a testing time but the Confucian cultural roots have resurfaced. Ongoing evaluations indicate there are still unequal outcomes between girls and boys, rural and urban, and in different regions. This has prompted further teacher education reform and the development of teacher excellence. Lee (2014) looks at a different section of Chinese education and laments the decline in teacher quality of the Open University of China, one of the factors being the unsatisfactory salary and social status of teachers.

Viewing young women as instigators of social change can potentially place a huge burden on them, according to Hayhurst (2013), who explored the experience of girls in Uganda in a corporate-funded sport, gender and development martial arts programme. It was concluded that 'becoming self-reliant agents of change is problematic when [the young women] are not supported structurally in their quest to challenge gender norms and to shift gender relations'.

School principals' attitude to marginalised students also has its effect ( Schleicher, 2014). When students are not seen as disadvantaged, their learning outcomes are much better. Singapore, where disadvantage is significant but principals do not perceive it as such, shows only moderate impact on its learning outcomes. Contrast this with France; there is a relatively small share of disadvantaged students, but the school principals perceive this as large, and the learning outcomes suffer. 'Principals' perception of disadvantage correlates with inequalities in education opportunities more strongly than real disadvantage does' (Schleicher, 2014).

Girls' education is the first to suffer in times of violence. Many countries are in a state of upheaval, with full-scale war being raged in some. Education First, an initiative of the UN's Secretary General, says 'education cannot wait'. In situations of conflict, it is imperative that children still have access to quality education. Education First lists three key barriers that need to be addressed: under-financing; attacks on schools, teachers and children; and a lack of planning in case of crisis. ACCORD met in late 2013 in Kenya to strategise on how to cope with 'the persisting reality of continued marginalization of women from formal peace processes, increased insecurity and high levels of violence against women and girls'.

Nor does a country have to be in crisis for gender violence to affect girls' right to education. Meger (2014) suggests it is partly because girls are being educated and learning to speak up for their rights that men are feeling their traditional male dominance is under threat. Couple this with economic reforms driven by globalisation and males are feeling a loss of status, wealth and power. Meger cites as an example the rise of rape cases in India, although she acknowledges gender-based violence (GBV) is a worldwide problem - in Australia 48% of women have experienced physical violence.

Natural disasters can also put a country into crisis where girls and women are the first victims unless humanitarian aid includes protection. Blunt (2013) examined the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and found that women could become sexual victims in exchange for food. Syrian refugee women and children are struggling to exist after fleeing to Lebanon. Many are trying to marry their daughters early to escape the humiliation of prostitution, not always successfully as the new wives are often beaten; mothers turn to sex to feed their families and pay for shelter ( Syrian refugee, 2014).

Education of boys and men

It has been realised that boys and men also need educating on human rights and gender issues so girls can take their rightful place in society. Mao Zedong said 'women hold up half the sky', yet in China the killing of baby girls is rife, due partly to the one child policy but also to a traditional cultural preference for sons. According to The Economist (2010), South Korea, which had a sex ratio almost as skewed as China, has managed to turn this around by female education, and anti-discrimination suits and equal rights rulings. In Somaliland, Edna Adan is unapologetic in her belief that men must step up to the mark in the fight for gender equality. 'Fathers must join this battle. This is happening to their daughters, their mothers. Women have suffered for long enough, it is time for men to play a greater role,' she says. 'We need a worldwide movement to make this a central concern, so it is no longer confined to the borders of debate.' ( Adnan, 2014). Velasquez-Manoff (2014) studied timing of social intervention and found that the earlier issues could be addressed, the better the effect on the child's social development. This would indicate the earlier boys are educated about gender issues the more likely that social change will occur.

One way in which to make social attitude changes was demonstrated by Tinka Tinka Sukh, an entertainment programme broadcast on All India Radio in the late 1990s ( Papa et al., 2000). Papa et al. studied the effects of the series on one village and found that it led to discussions among the village people which resulted in social changes - not a linear change, but change nonetheless. This suggests possibilities for addressing, among other issues, the attitudes of men and boys to gender equality.

Religion and culture

Religion and culture often come into conflict with the notions of gender equality and education. When Northern values and education systems and curricula have been imposed without appreciating, valuing and understanding the local culture, resistance has been a natural reaction. Wan (2014) states that education for international understanding is an essential skill for teachers. Emblen (2014) considers the difficulties in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). She learned that human rights and democracy are taboo topics for discussion. Development agencies can only work with guided participation in conjunction with village authorities; pre-set skills are taught, but new ideologies or the ability to critically analyse do not form part of the curriculum, particularly in the rural areas.

The OIC aims to 'preserve and promote the lofty Islamic values of peace, compassion, tolerance, equality, justice and human dignity; to promote human rights and freedoms, good governance, rule of law, democracy and accountability ...' ( Organization of Islamic Cooperation, 2014). Mamouri (2014) argues that both the Bible and the Quran can be cited as justification for extremism that denies human rights of equality and aims to establish or maintain a patriarchal society. Just as with Christianity, there exist many sects within Islam, a feature that is not new to either religion. The majority of Muslims are not fundamentalists and wish to live moderate lives. Mamouri questions where these moderate voices are. The terrorist groups have at present grabbed the headlines, but very recently (September, 2014) moderate Muslim leaders in the UK have been televised preaching moderation and peace.

Government intervention

There are many who highlight the importance of governmental support and legislation to enable women to become educated and realise their full potential. The Economist (2010) recommends that all countries raise the value of girls by encouraging female education, abolish laws that prevent equality, and raise the profile of women in public life. Guzman (2014) blames poor policy and institutional weaknesses for low levels of student learning in Central America, but is heartened by the fact that there is renewed concern about improving teacher policy. Noor (2014) reports that Malaysia has had a major educational policy shift over the last five decades and is introducing educational innovations, guided by UNESCO, the World Bank and past PISA results. In 2005, Indonesia developed the Teacher Law, a package of reforms for the management of teachers and institutions, including a wide range of quality assurance mechanisms. Unfortunately, the latter are only just being put into place, so the desired progress has not yet been achieved ( Shaeffer, 2014).

The EFA GMR 2013-2014 notes very little progress in closing the gap in education, according to Avalos-Bevan (2014) who suggests many countries have not considered all factors that affect education, resulting in inadequate policy formulation. The GCPEA 2014 study calls for protective legislation and policy, conflict-sensitive education programmes and policies, and increased accountability ( Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, 2014). Rose (2014) summarises that the GMR makes it clear that 'ultimately it is the responsibility of policymakers to address the problems in the system'. The Global Poverty Project (2008) believes that governments have to become more greatly aligned with businesses and individuals to progressively change systems, structures and policies. This Project continues to press for the equality of girls and women and their right to quality education. When the GEFI was launched in 2012, a group of 'Champion Countries' was formed to catalyse political support for education by leading by example. Empower Women (2014) is another organisation that discusses with governments what can be done to change mind-sets and provide opportunities for women. Multi-lateral and bilateral institutions, corporations, the private sector and governments are increasingly recognising the opportunity for girls to be agents of change, according to the International Center for Research on Women (2012). The MDG2 has largely been reached because national governments have introduced free and compulsory education at primary level.

Approaching 2015

Many reports and evaluations are being produced as the deadline of 2015 for the MDGs approaches. In an overview of the global political climate, Haass (2008) had already noted that there has been a change to a newer world order. Beginning as a multipolar system in the early twentieth century, international relations evolved into a bipolar state then to a unipolar state with the United States dominant after the end of the Cold War. Now, in the 21st century, the world is 'dominated not by one or two or even several states but rather by dozens of actors possessing and exercising various kinds of power'. Peters (2014) writes:

the rise of 'non-state actors' - terrorists, global corporations, religious and ethnic tribes, sovereign wealth funds and non-profit charities and foundations, European Union, 'civil society' foundations and academic institutions - is now crucial in shaping the order of a 'nonpolar' world.

This changing political world has had a major influence on the progress made in achieving education for all and equality for women. In many parts of the world, fundamentalist groups have moved to protect their conservative values. Anti-Western sentiment is strongly condemning of the increasing consumerism, secularisation and apparent decline in morality and loss of traditional order in society. Consequently, groups have targeted women and girls, and GBV has increased. Haass warns that if terrorism is not combated, the non-polar era will descend into a modern Dark Ages. Peters observes that the ability of the West to intervene in conflict zones is declining. No progress has been made in Nigeria where Boko Haram has waged a campaign of GBV.

Bilal (2014), in an editorial in Great Insights, agrees that the world is changing rapidly. Developing countries are becoming more assertive in determining their own strategies and structural transformations that suit their culture, society and needs.

Grassroots voices

The Global Poverty Project (2008) believes that sustainable change can occur when a critical mass of individuals in a society aspire to the same values and that group is equipped to take meaningful action. Otoo-Oyortey (2014) supports this, stating change must come from within. Mihoko et al. (2013), working in the Yemen, aimed to improve gender equality by adopting a school-based management model that involved school committees with community members and regional administration. Because the education system was locally 'owned', improvements were accepted. Varghese (2014) believes that teachers, students and parents should all be part of a democratic decision process. SOS Villages (2014) also support the idea of solutions being formed at local, grassroots level. Improving educational opportunities for girls and women begins with the family, because it is this fundamental unit that ultimately decides an individual's path in life. Fighting for women's rights, Diop of the African Union (AU) is aiming to ensure that women and vulnerable communities are heard in negotiations ( Clark, 2014). The DFID's strategic vision (2013) for girls and women included having a voice and becoming active citizens for change.

Education and teaching

There are many voices asking for education content and pedagogy to be adapted to local culture and society. Education should be less linked to international ideologies ( Emblen, 2014); there needs to be more input into policy and authority devolved from the centre to the schools ( Noor, 2014); learning needs to be of a quality suited to the community to avoid producing an army of unskilled and unemployable youth ( Ogwo and Ezekoye, 2014). Roudi-Fahini and Moghadam (2003) sounded an early warning that the quality of education should match the market needs. Bergh and Couturier (2013) seek to strengthen links between education and unemployment; and Ordonez and Bhatkal (2014) see the need for aligning education and technical training with the needs of the job market.

The quality of teaching and teaching resources has, in many countries, been a hindrance to achieving true success. Hamm (2014) decries the quality of education, because of decisions made at national level with little consultation with teachers, and divorced from local realities and barriers to learning. Donor agencies have pressured countries into globally defined goals providing a framework within which the country has to operate. The poor teaching in Latin America and the Caribbean is due to lack of good training and incentives; concern about this is pushing educational reform ( Guzman, 2014). Fichtner (2014) is calling for an educational policy in the Global South that involves head teachers, as they are familiar with the current constraints -social, official and practical - on their ability to ensure delivery of quality education. In the Sub-Saharan countries, the poorest, rural, girls and disabled are the most disadvantaged by poor-quality teaching and the responsibility lies with the policy makers, according to Rose (2014).

Digital literacy, defined as the 'ability to find resources, critically evaluate and create information using digital technology', is considered by UNESCO to be a necessary life skill (Antonio and Tuffley, 2010). The internet opens the door to knowledge and education, yet two-thirds of the world's population, many of whom are women, do not have access to the internet. The She Will Connect project is an initiative by Intel Corporation to improve the digital literacy skills of women in developing countries ( Intel, 2012).

Measurement

Measurement of success is a contentious issue and one that is often mentioned as requiring attention. Bergh and Couturier (2013) describe an emphasis post-2015 on measuring literacy and numeracy, and some also want to measure completion and drop-out rates. There is a need to track how inclusive progress has been through disaggregated data - at the sub-national level as well as for different social groups and genders. There is a need for more detailed recording of statistics ( O'Neill, 2014). Sawamura (2014) is calling for more quantitative rather than qualitative studies. Scott (2013) suggests that, where previously ratios in education were the focus, structural constraints and discriminatory norms (difficult to measure) should be seen as most important.

The way forward

Planning for the way forward from 2015 is taking into account the non-polar world, the evaluations and the critiques. The UN member states initiated steps at the 2010 MDG Summit towards a process of open, inclusive consultations regarding the post-2015 agenda ( Beyond, 2015). In July 2014, the Open Working Group (OWG) Outcome Document was released for comment and critique ( Open Working Group, 2014). The emphases in this document are on sustainable development, and working together in international cooperation, recognising that each country has its own national realities and responsibilities, yet guided overall by basic human rights principles. There are new focuses on dealing with climate change and terrorism, as well as a call for more accurate and in-depth measurement of outcomes. What is missing is the rhetoric about girls' education providing the salvation of the world's problems. Bourne of GEFI (2013) already cautioned, when talking to Erakit (2013), that 'empowering girls alone will not suffice to bring about social change', adding that all stakeholders, from parents and community to bodies such as the UN, need to be involved. Another issue missing from the basic framework is the need to work to change the attitudes of many men and boys towards women; this may appear in the detail developed later.

The Outcome Document has proposed a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. The SDG 4 is focused on education: ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all. There are seven sub-clauses relating to: all levels of education from pre-primary to tertiary and to eliminating inequalities due to gender and vulnerability; literacy and numeracy; education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence; global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture's contribution to sustainable development. A further three extra sections mention facilities, scholarships and qualified teachers.

The second SDG that relates to our topic is SDG 5: achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. This has six sub-clauses regarding: violence and discrimination; shared household responsibilities 'as nationally appropriate'; participation in political life; and access to sexual and reproductive health care. These are followed by three sub-sections: equal rights to economic resources; enhanced use of technology; formation of gender equality policies.

Already there have been many responses, and more will follow as organisations and governments discuss the new SDGs. The Child Fund Alliance comments that the building blocks are in place, but in the negotiations to follow these must be extended to construct the detail to ensure the best implementation of the goals, and more locally led monitoring and accountability ( Child Fund Alliance, 2014). People should be empowered to make positive change in their communities and hold their governments accountable for equitable progress at national, regional and local levels. The United Nations University Institute for Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU IAS) stresses that all must be included in the opportunities for development, and the knowledge of all must be valued (UN University - Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, 2014).

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Rajakpasa advises that human rights should be seen as a moral and ethical concept rather than as a political tool. External intervention without adequate consideration of the structures in a society and cultural traditions of the countries where such intervention takes place inevitably results in destabilisation, which is very much in evidence today, in most parts of the world ( Rajakpasa, 2014).

There is a need to move from capital-based development to people-focused development, according to Vaca, the Social Development Minister of Ecuador. Her government is focusing on equality and equity. Larsen from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and de Monthoux, CEO, SOS Children's Villages Denmark, are both targeting inequality with a focus on children and young people. Woodroffe et al. (2014), writing on The Gender and Development Network (GADN), would like to see more emphasis on women's human rights and object to the qualifying phrase of 'as nationally appropriate' when applied to sharing household duties.

There was a strong focus on the positive effects of girls' education on development and social change when the MDGs were promoted in 2000 by the UN. Fired with zeal, the countries of the Global North tried to impose their ideas of education on the 'deprived' South. Pointed lessons have been learned: the local culture, society and religions have treasured values and needs of their own and, as 2015 approaches, voices at grassroots and at South government levels are demanding to be heard. Education itself has encountered obstacles, with the ability to provide quality and relevant learning being compromised. Girls' education, in particular, has often been in conflict with social and religious norms. Measurements of success have been confined to quantitative achievements with no collection of qualitative data. Many governments are now reflecting on results and activating educational reforms.

The post-2015 Outcome Document, with 17 goals, was released in July 2014 after wide consultation, and further comments are invited from all levels of the community. The Document no longer presents girls' education as being the saviour of the world. There is still an emphasis on equality, human rights and freedom, with the addition of sustainability - of political, social and environmental concerns - as a new focus. There are many thousands of NGOs and community organisations working to re-align themselves and learn from mistakes made - as well as from successful projects. The attitude that the North has all the answers is no longer prevalent. When all countries can feel respected and their values and abilities acknowledged - within the bounds of human rights - better and more sustainable progress will be made.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Girls' education, development and social change: 'Seeding, Strengthening and Linking' (Global Fund for Women) - Shirley Anne Porter, 2016

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This literature review will trace the recent history of the globalisation of human rights with reference to education, particularly for girls and women, but also looking more broadly to include education for boys and men. The main paradigms - traditional, neo-liberalism and philanthrocapitalism - for providing education in developing countries will be defined.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Investing in girls' education transforms communities, countries and the entire world. Girls who receive an education are less likely to marry young and more likely to lead healthy, productive lives. They earn higher incomes, participate in the decisions that most affect them, and build better futures for themselves and their families.

Girls' education strengthens economies and reduces inequality. It contributes to more stable, resilient societies that give all individuals - including boys and men - the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

But education for girls is about more than access to school. It's also about girls feeling safe in classrooms and supported in the subjects and careers they choose to pursue - including those in which they are often under-represented.

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Gender equality in education benefits every child.