If you are on this website, you likely don’t need much convincing. It is well documented that educating girls leads to a society of empowered women able to contribute to their economy.
Quite frankly, the problem is staggering. According the the Malala Fund, 132 million girls are out of school world-wide, and this does not include refugees or girls in conflict zones. The World Bank has translated that to dollars and cents: the lost earnings and productivity of those girls over their lifetimes is estimated at $30 trillion. (Click on the links to see the associated articles.) It seems so overwhelming that we don’t know where to begin. Well, we can begin with a few girls in Northern Uganda who desperately want to stay in school. We commend all the other organizations, large and small, that are joining together to address the issue of global girls’ education.
Education brings not only the personal fulfillment from achieving one’s potential, but these tangible social and economic benefits:
Time to Grow Up – delays marriage and childbirth, resulting in smaller families.
Improved Health – including safer childbirth and reduced infant mortality, lower rates of HIV infection and better nutrition.
Income Earning Potential – each additional year of secondary school increases a woman’s future annual wages by 20%.
Educated Children (and Relatives) – women invest 90% of what they earn back into opportunities for a better future for their families. This is how the cycle of intergenerational poverty is broken.
