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https://newsela.com/view/ck9noo9lh00d30iqj4u1gzusp/?levelId=ck7ectyzm01te14p75kr8bzms

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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https://newsela.com/view/ck9nooblv01i80iqjrmxyzspc/?levelId=ck7ecuf6o06mq14p7riq111c4

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Agricultural Waste creates agricultural pollution and is the unwanted or unsalable materials that are produced in the growing of crops or raising of livestock. In reference to farming, this contamination of the environment due to agricultural pollution is worrisome, but taking a zero-waste approach, there are methods to sustainable farming.

Some negative effects of this pollution include soil erosion, pesticide-related health issues, and even water contamination.

Zero waste agriculture means that the output of one process will be the input of another, such as composting with worms or using wastewater treatments solely.
Agriculture and similar land-use generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all power generation!
Transforming our food production systems and consumption habits are undeniable solutions that must be part of the changes when addressing climate change. Right now, it is not specifically being addressed as a key factor of climate change, which could not be further from the truth. Step one is recognizing that it is a contributor and then committing to developing and implementing solutions and strategies that will support a transition away from these animal-agricultural food systems and depend more heavily on the plant-centric food systems.

Check it out!

Climate Documentary: Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret

I would recommend watching this moving documentary to learn more about some of the truths behind why a lot of this knowledge seems to be hushed in a lot of climate knowledge and discussions. Since animal agriculture's impact on the climate is so large and catastrophic, it is important to discuss this difficult topic, that a lot of times society does not want to be told they are doing something wrong, or should be doing something so personal, like food and eating differently.

Instead, here are some things that everyone can begin to adhere to in their daily lives that can make all the difference in reducing your own personal greenhouse gas emissions!

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It May Be Uncomfortable, But We Need to Talk About It: The Animal Agriculture Industry and Zero Waste

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The animal agriculture industry is the leading cau

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Backyard breeding is a term used to describe irresponsible breeding of animals. Often this is due to ignorance or neglect where a pet dog or cat accidentally becomes pregnant because the owner has failed to have them desexed.

Some people also allow their cat or dog to have a litter because they believe it is a good experience for their children to witness and/or every animal should have a litter. These are not valid reasons for allowing pets to breed and is strongly discouraged. In other cases animals are deliberately bred so the animals can be sold. Fortunately, in some States laws are being introduced requiring mandatory desexing of pets and/or registration of breeders to help prevent over breeding of dogs and cats. When breeding is carried out on a large scale and where conditions are poor, the term puppy farm is used.

What distinguishes backyard breeders from responsible breeders are the standards that the breeder meets and whether there is a known demand for puppies before they are bred. Where breeding has been accidental, the owner is often unaware of the special requirements for the mother and her offspring and it is often difficult to find good homes for the puppies or kittens. Inadequate nutrition, fleas and worms are common in these situations, placing the welfare of these animals at risk.

Backyard breeding contributes to the unwanted companion animal population in the community. Uncontrolled breeding and overpopulation inevitably leads to the euthanasia of healthy unwanted animals.

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Backyard breeding is a term used to describe irresponsible breeding of animals. Often this is due to ignorance or neglect where a pet dog or cat accidentally becomes pregnant because the owner has failed to have them desexed.

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Meet The Girls | Girl Rising Education Nonprofit

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See the inspiring stories of the girls in the Girl Rising film. Many have overcome misogyny, abject poverty, and structural barriers to build a life for themselves.

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Ethan Branscum continues to advocate for shelter animals, and his work is attracting attention.

The 8-year-old resident of Frankfort recently received the 2021 Humane Advocate Award from the Humane Society of the United States - Kentucky.

"Given Ethan's tireless commitment to bringing awareness to shelter and rescue pets across the state and passing legislation on their behalf, we couldn't think of a more worthy recipient for this year's award," said Todd Blevins, the Kentucky state director with HSUS.

Ethan first drew attention for his work to pass legislation to have shelter pets named the official state pet of Kentucky.

Ethan wrote several legislators last session about his proposal, and state Sen. Adrienne Southworth, R-Lawrenceburg, was able to file a bill at the last minute that would "name and designate as the official pets of Kentucky domestic cats and dogs that reside in or have been adopted from Kentucky animal shelters or rescue organizations."

Inclement weather scrambled the legislature's schedule and the bill didn't make it out of committee, but Southworth did introduce a resolution that passed. The resolution asked Kentuckians to consider adopting pets from a shelter.

Ethan is determined to have shelter pets named the state's official pet.

"I haven't given up yet," he said. "We're working on that, and I'm not going to give up until it passes. After that we'll go to the national level."

Because visitors aren't allowed at the shelter due to COVID restrictions, volunteers take pictures of adoptable animals and send them to Ethan to use.

"We usually choose the one that's been there the longest," he said about the pets that are featured on his social media pages. "Once they get adopted, we go to one that's been there a shorter time."

Ethan has done all this while recovering from a broken arm.

"I broke my arm on my bike," he said. "I had a solid cast and had to wear a sling. Now I have a removable one (cast), and I don't have to wear the sling."

That's a welcome change for Ethan, who before breaking his arm wore a dress shirt and sports coat for "The Rescue Report."

"When I had the solid cast, I wore short-sleeved, casual shirts," he said. "I like being able to wear long-sleeved shirts."

Ethan was selected as a celebrity waiter for the Franklin County Humane Society's Celebrity Waiters Dinner and auction, which will be online this year, and he'll be making a video for it.

He's also working on fundraisers for the local humane society, which is raising money to build a new shelter.

Ethan has sold shirts that have raised $300, and he's thinking of a bake sale.

"After we're through with COVID, I'd like to sell some doggie brownies," he said. "We'd make them to look like a dog's face, but dogs couldn't ingest them because they'll be made of chocolate. The eyes will be dark chocolate, and for that sparkle in their eyes we'd use white icing, and they'd have a dark chocolate nose."

Dogs couldn't eat the brownies because chocolate is toxic to dogs.

In the past Ethan has had a lemonade stand in front of New Leash on Life, the humane society's thrift store located at 415 W. Broadway St.

Ethan has one other project in mind.

"I'm thinking of starting a junior advocacy program," he said. "We could educate kids on animal issues. Kids are the future leaders and that's important, especially with Kentucky being pretty much at the back of line on animal welfare laws."

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Ethan Branscum wins Humane Advocate Award for his work for shelter and rescue pets

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Ethan Branscum continues to advocate for shelter animals, and his work is attracting attention. The 8-year-old resident of Frankfort recently received the 2021 Humane Advocate Award from the Humane Society of the United States - Kentucky.

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Best Friends Animal Society - Save Them All

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With Best Friends, you're working to save the lives of cats and dogs all-across America, giving pets second chances and happy homes.

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Food, Water and Human Rights: 10 Examples of Global Issues - The Borgen Project

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Global issues are economic, environmental, social and political concerns that affect the whole world. These issues disrupt the natural framework of humanity, disturbing economic and social progress. These are 10 examples of global issues that are altering the development of human progress.

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https://newsela.com/read/floating-ocean-trash-collector/id/45217/?collection_id=339&search_id=8cd64ea7-c469-41e6-b5f8-caaac02e4e4b

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Newsela | Sources: Incognito bullied teammate Martin by sending racist texts

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Bullying doesn't just happen in schools. Martin left the Miami Dolphins last week. Incognito had sent him racist and threatening text messages. Bullying has become a nationwide concern.

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Newsela | A survey of American teens finds that online bullying is a big problem

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Online bullying of all kinds remains a major problem for teens.

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | D.C. author was bullied as a kid - now he urges others to be kind

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Newsela | Five things students can do about racism

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Research and action can make people feel better, healthier, studies show

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Newsela | Opinion: "Measure of a Man" can teach people of all ages how to stand up to bullies

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The author states that the film, "Measure of a Man," shows that a boy's worth isn't determined by waist size, but by his ability to deal with the uncertainty of his choices.

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Newsela | Ohio community wages war on bullying

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Ohio high school students highlight problem of bullying.

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Newsela | Teen suspended for "trying to incite violence" with anti-bullying video

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A student was suspended for filming an anti-bullying video in her high school's classroom.

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Newsela | Viral Facebook video puts some big-name celebs in bullied boy's corner

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Young boy's viral video about bullying earns support online.

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Newsela | Opinion: Can winning be attained without resorting to bullying?

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Newsela | Gabby Douglas partners with anti-bullying group after Olympics backlash

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Newsela | Schoolyard conflicts may affect health later in life, research shows

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The way kids handle conflict with peers may have major long-term health repercussions

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Newsela | A nationwide rise in cyberbullying spurs schools to take action

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Newsela | Psychologists explain why online comments are often so mean

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Online comments are often much meaner than what people would say in person. The reasons have to do with how the brain works. But learning to be nicer on the internet is possible -- and healthier.

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Newsela | State lawmaker says he has a way to stop bullies: Fine parents up to $750

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A Pennsylvania lawmaker says that one way to crack down on bullying is to fine parents for their child's bad behavior.

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Newsela | What climate change means for Texas

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Newsela | Tallest peak or tallest pigsty: Nepal struggles with trash on Everest

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With more and more people climbing Mount Everest, the country of Nepal is struggling to get climbers to not leave their trash on the world's tallest mountain.

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Newsela | Environmental impacts of agricultural changes

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The Earth's ability to feed a growing population is tested by ecologically harmful modern agricultural methods intensified by global climate change.

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Newsela | Understanding tropical deforestation

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Deforestation meets some human needs, but also has profound consequences that aren't just local, but global.

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Newsela | Restoring ecosystems could bring back wildlife and reduce carbon

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Activists insist the rebuilding of ecosystems could help mitigate climate change.

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Newsela | Hockey league is being proactive to fight the threat of climate change

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National Hockey League taking steps to be proactive in the fight against climate change

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Newsela - Teenage banker in Peru helps kids in poverty and reduces waste

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Seven years ago, a 14-year-old boy in Peru started a bank for kids. He has a double goal: reducing waste and helping children living in poverty.

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Newsela - Building an energy-friendly smart home for the future

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An experiment at building a house that produces more energy than it uses.

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Newsela | Giving up pillowy toilet paper can save Canadian forests and the Earth

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Americans' heavy use of extra-soft toilet paper is destroying Canadian forests and worsening climate change.

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Newsela | Women are key to saving the environment, new study shows how

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Study finds that when it comes to decisions about environmental preservation, the presence of women matter.

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Newsela | Primary Sources: Interview with former child laborer in the Industrial Revolution

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Former child laborer Michael Crabtree discusses the harsh conditions under which he worked

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Newsela - Group pushes to protect children working on U.S. tobacco farms

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Children work long hours harvesting tobacco in the sun, exposed to dangerous chemicals. A group wants companies to stop buying tobacco from farms with unsafe working conditions.

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | New rules for child labor in India come under fire from children's groups

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Advocacy groups argue that a new government proposal could actually push more youngsters into the workforce.

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Newsela | Opinion: The fight against child labor abuses in mining

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Governments and companies are not doing their due diligence in researching the labor practices of their mining sources

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Newsela | Photographer documented work life of child laborers in the early 1900s

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The images helped open people's eyes and hearts to see the darker side of child labor.

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Newsela | Senators call for ban on imports of cocoa produced by forced child labor

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Two Democratic senators are calling for a ban on cocoa imported from the Ivory Coast, citing "overwhelming evidence" of the use of forced child labor on the country's cocoa farms

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Newsela - Early start to day for kids in Mexico crossing border for school in Texas

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Some kids in Mexico start their day at 5:30 in the morning to make it on time for school in Texas.

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela - Court rules students have a constitutional right to a “basic” education

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A court decision may require the state of Michigan to do more to make sure students have the chance to learn to read.

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Newsela | Migration in the 21st century and its effects on education

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For many migrant and refugee children around the world, access to education is very limited. Human Rights Watch says that education is key to helping these children recover from traumatic events in their lives.

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Newsela - Will an entire generation of Syrian children grow up with no education?

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Many children must choose work over education

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Newsela | Student Opinion: Bullies need to be brought to justice

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Schools aren't doing enough to curb the rise in bullying

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Newsela - Short on funds, Illinois struggles to deal with horse neglect

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The four horses had not been visited in weeks. There was no water in their buckets, no hay in their stalls. All of the animals looked dangerously thin.

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

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Depending on this location's preferences, the log-in process could include your library card number, a student or user ID, or another provided password. If you don't know how to log in, please contact your library or school directly.

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

Don't know how to login?

Depending on this location's preferences, the log-in process could include your library card number, a student or user ID, or another provided password. If you don't know how to log in, please contact your library or school directly.

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips!

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Gale offers a variety of resources for education, lifelong learning, and academic research. Whether you are looking for peer-reviewed articles; full-text magazines, newspapers, and eBooks; primary source documents; and videos or podcasts, Gale puts the right vetted content and tools at your fingertips! Don't know how to login?

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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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Secondary education for girls can transform communities, countries and our world.
It is an investment in economic growth, a healthier workforce, lasting peace and the future of our planet. That's why Malala Fund advocates - at the local, national and international levels - for resources and policy changes that improve access to education for girls.

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It is an investment in economic growth, a healthier workforce, lasting peace and the future of our planet. That's why Malala Fund advocates - at the local, national and international levels - for resources and policy changes that improve access to education for girls.

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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.

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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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A new brief from Save the Children and The Regional Coordination Group on SDG4-Education 2030 in West and Central Africa reveals that 28 million girls in West and Central Africa have no access to education. These numbers show that, despite more girls accessing education now than ever before worldwide, in West and Central Africa more needs to be done in order to achieve SDG 4 and ensure girls can learn from a quality education.
According to data included in the brief Promoting Girls' Right to Learn in West and Central Africa, only 76 girls are enrolled in secondary school education for every 100 boys in the region. While 70% of girls start primary school, the proportion of girls who finish lower secondary education is just 36%.

Only 2.8% of girls from the poorest 40% of families in francophone countries finish primary school with adequate competency in reading and maths. These data highlight the difficulties girls in West and Central Africa face in accessing and completing education and achieving learning outcomes.

Why aren't girls in school?

The brief reveals the various barriers leading to low participation, performance and completion rates for girls, and emphasizes how some of these obstacles are themselves worsened by a lack of girls' education.

Social barriers, such as unequal gender norms, child marriage and early pregnancy in the region severely reduce the likelihood of girls staying in school.

West and Central Africa has the highest adolescent birth rate in the world, with almost 200 births for every 1,000 girls.

As women are traditionally valued for their domestic work and fertility, it can be difficult for families to see investment in girls' formal education as beneficial, and they may decide that marriage is a better option. West and Central Africa is home to some of the countries with the highest rates of child marriage in the world.

Financial barriers are shown to be a key obstacle to girls accessing education, with the high cost of schooling given by many parents as the main reason for their children not attending school. Parents provide a large amount of education financing in the region, financing equivalent to almost half of public investment in education ( see more on that here). In one of the poorest regions in the world, this disproportionately affects girls due to social norms leading to the prioritization of boys' education.

School-related barriers also limit girls' access to and retention in school. School-related gender based violence is a common issue, with 67% of female dropout in West and Central Africa occurring as a result of violence. Gender-biased teaching and education materials prohibit girls' learning and lead to poorer outcomes. Poor sanitary facilities pose a further challenge due to a lack of menstrual hygiene education, sanitary pads and private changing areas.

The new brief highlights how conflict and crisis exacerbates these various barriers to girls' education in the region, with rising incidences of sexual violence and child marriage, and reduced access to and quality of education.

Girls with disabilities in West and Central Africa reportedly experience double discrimination in education as a result of negative attitudes towards both girls and disabilities. This often means that girls with disabilities are not allowed to attend school or face discrimination and violence when they do. They experience higher rates of gender-based violence in schools and encounter restrictions in assessing, escaping and reporting these experiences.

What is being done?

The brief showcases various examples of the work being done by many actors in the region to tackle barriers to girls' learning. In Niger, for example, Save the Children is working with parents to fight child marriage and keep girls in school. Adult literacy classes, combined with sensitization sessions, are helping parents to realize the importance of education and change their attitudes towards harmful traditional practices. Additionally, accelerated courses are allowing girls to reintegrate into school and continue their education. The GPE program in Niger also includes incentives for girls' education. Results include 700 girls receiving grants to cover their living expenses while they attend lower secondary school away from home.
For further information and reading:
In Liberia, the Ministry of Education, UNICEF and local NGOs are promoting girls access, retention, and completion of education through the Gender Equitable Education Programme (GEEP). GEEP is a holistic program with a cross-sectoral strategy that incorporates protection against school related gender-based violence (SRGBV), in and around schools to reinforce girls' successes in a safer and protective school environment. These efforts are aligned to Liberia's Education Sector Plan 2010-2020, which aims to provide all Liberians with the opportunity to access and complete affordable education of a quality, relevance and appropriateness that meets their needs and that of the nation. This includes providing a clean, sanitary, violence-free, and conducive school environment for all children, especially girls.

A call to action

The brief provides recommendations for all stakeholders to ensure that every last girl in West and Central Africa can enroll in school and complete her education in a safe, supportive environment. It calls on all stakeholders to work together to provide girls with friendly, safe and protective learning environments, increase community support for quality girls' education, promote gender sensitive teaching and curricula, and ensure policy and planning that allow for effective gender promotion.

The data and barriers to education demonstrated in this brief emphasize the urgent need for coordinated efforts to guarantee gender equality in education in West and Central Africa and ensure the SDGs are successfully achieved.

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28 million girls without access to education

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Save the Children and the Regional Coordination Group on SDG4-Education 2030 published a new brief that reveals that 28 million girls in West and Central Africa have no access to education. The brief also outlines the various barriers leading to low participation, performance and completion rates for girls.

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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.

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."

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?"

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.

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.