Undeniable Fact: Investing in Girl Child Education Means Creating a Better World for All

Let’s talk about girl child education. Did you know that almost double the number of adolescent girls (one in four) compared to boys are not in any form of education, employment or training?

I don’t know where you are or what your current situation is. But, on this planet Earth, there’re always women less fortunate than you. They may have less money, education, healthcare or freedom.

Today, you’ll learn the importance of girl child education, why it’s a tool to break cycles of poverty and empower communities. You see, some effects of lack of female education are child marriage, poverty and gender inequality, which all lead back to women’s limited access to education. It’s a vicious cycle.

To help us navigate this process, I have chosen 11 impactful global movements and organisations championing how education empowers girl child. 

This post is all about how girl child education is the key to break cycles of extreme poverty, gender-based violence, and their limited access to education.

Why education is so important for the girl child

According to UNICEF, World Bank, and UNESCO, educating the girl child has a generational impact. Such as:

1. Reduction in Poverty
2. Decrease in Early Marriage and Maternal Mortality
3. Economic Growth
4. Improved Child Survival Rates
5. Social and Gender Equity

This means that education is not only a right but a transformative tool for empowering the girl child, and breaking cycles of inequality.

11 Movements transforming girl child education

1. International Women’s Day

“Marked annually on March 8th, IWD is one of the most important days of the year to:

• celebrate women’s achievements
• educate and awareness raise about women’s equality
• call for positive change advancing women
• lobby for accelerated gender parity
• fundraise for women-focused charities

Everyone, everywhere can play a part in helping forge gender equality.” (About International Women’s Day)

International Women’s Day is a global celebration advocating for education equality and gender parity in education.

2. International Day of the Girl Child

“On December 19, 2011, United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. The International Day of the Girl Child focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights.” (United Nations, International Day of the Girl Child)

International Day of the Girl Child is a platform to address the effects of lack of female education, such as child marriage and limited life choices. Its initiatives focus on how to improve girl child education.

3. Malala Fund

“Malala Fund works to secure 12 years of free, safe, quality education for all girls so they can learn and lead without fear. We focus on secondary school, typically grades 7–12, when gender discrimination increasingly affects adolescent girls’ futures. Completing secondary school opens up opportunities for girls to make their own life choices, allowing them to reach their fullest potential.” (Malala Fund, Why Girls’ Education)

Malala Fund focuses on how education transforms communities by empowering the girl child through education. When girls are educated, they make better decisions for themselves and their families. They are also more likely to identify the need for public services improvements in their communities.

4. Plan International

“We work with children and girls in over 80 countries to help create a world where we are all equal.” (About Plan International)

Plan International’s global campaign, Because I Am a Girl (2012 – 2018) brought girls and their supporters together, addressed education equality and promoted access to education for girls in marginalised communities. It raised hundreds of millions of euros, changed laws in many countries, and supported millions of girls to get an education.

5. Girls Not Brides

“Children and adolescent girls marry and enter informal unions – by choice or by force – for many, complex, inter-related reasons. So, to end child marriage we first need to understand the systems, norms and behaviours that drive it, and what works to end it in different contexts.” (Girls Not Brides, How to end it)

Girls Not Brides is the Global Partnership to end child marriage. It highlights the complex background of child marriage, and the importance of girl child education as a way to delay marriage and expand life choices.

6. The Global Campaign for Education

“The Global Campaign for Education celebrates International Women’s Day in 2024 with the theme “Count her in: Invest in her.”  The theme is consistent with the UN 68th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 68), which will investigate pathways to greater economic inclusion for women and girls worldwide. The theme acknowledges that, despite progress, women still face significant barriers to equal economic participation. It calls for ensuring equal opportunities for women and girls to build their capabilities and strengthen their capacity to learn, earn, and lead.” (The Global Campaign for Education, Educate the Women, and You Change the World: Investing in the Education of Women)

The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) addresses that current strategies often carry limited focus, prioritising educational attainment for young girls. This impacts older girls such as adolescent girls and young women, and hinders progress toward long-term gender equality. GCE also points out the significant shortfall in financing, with an estimated annual deficit of USD 360 billion in spending on gender equality, jeopardising the goal of achieving this by 2030.

7. Education Cannot Wait

“Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is the global, billion-dollar fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations. We support and protect holistic learning outcomes for refugee, internally displaced and other crisis-affected girls and boys, so no one is left behind. ECW is administered under UNICEF’s financial, human resources, and administrative rules and regulations; operations are run by the Fund’s own independent governance structure.” (Education Cannot Wait, About Us, Who we are)

On International Women’s Day 2023, ECW announced a US$1.35 million grant to advance gender equality for global education in emergencies and protracted crisis responses. The new ECW Acceleration Facility grant was to be delivered by Plan International UK, UNICEF and VOICE to address pre-existing gender barriers and risks that disproportionally impact girls impacted by conflict, climate change, forced displacement and other protracted crises and emergencies.

8. Room to Read

“Many world problems can be addressed through one solution: education. Why? Because knowing how to read makes people safer, healthier and more self-sufficient — yet more than 773 million people cannot read – that number is greater than double the U.S. population and two-thirds of these individuals are women and girls.” (Room to Read)

Room to Read’s work focuses on how education empowers girl child in secondary school, as well as the literacy acquisition stage of early primary school in low-income communities.

9. CARE International

“CARE International places special focus on working alongside women and girls. Equipped with the proper resources, women and girls have the power to lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty. In 2022, CARE International worked in over 111 countries, reaching 174 million people through nearly 1,631 projects.” (CARE International, About us)

To achieve gender equality, gender norms and structures must change, which requires to engage men and boys. “CARE International’s approach to working with men and boys for gender equality is strongly grounded in local contexts and rights-based approaches”. CARE International takes a holistic and inclusive approach to improve girl child education through grassroots programs.

10. Barefoot College International

“With a geographic focus on the world’s least developed countries, we work in a decentralised way through a series of regional training centres to train rural women as solar engineers, entrepreneurs and educators. These women then return to their villages to bring clean energy, learning, and economic and social empowerment to their community.” (Barefoot College International, About)

Barefoot College’s programs include Solar, Enriche and Livelihoods.

11. Women for Women International

“We know that women pass on their knowledge to their neighbours and children, creating a ripple effect for generations. By investing in women, we create a better world for all of us – a world that’s more equal, peaceful, and prosperous. That is the power of women, for women.“ (Women for Women International, About us)

Women for Women International invests where inequality is the greatest, helping the women survivors of war and conflict, showcasing how education empowers girl child to rebuild societies. One of their programs is the Adolescent Girls Program which enrols 16-17 year old girls. By donating to this program, you help more adolescent girls take part in this program and give them a chance to move away from extreme poverty, gender-based violence, and limited access to education. 

Meet Josephine from Rwanda
Josephine joined the Adolescent Girls Program at the age of 17. She had dropped out of school at just 15 years old because she became pregnant after being sexually abused by a family friend. Josephine has completed the program and is now planning on working as a hairdresser. She wants to save money to return to school.

Wrap-up

How would you contribute to girl child education? Stories of each charity organisation and movement are inspiring and moving. Which one resonates with you the most? 

I would start from there. Choose one or two charities that resonate with you in the current phase of your life. As a mother of an adolescent girl, I recently donated to the Women for Women International’s Adolescent Girls Program. 

I encourage you to support global initiatives through donations or volunteering. Making donations to these charities can be a great Happy Women’s Day gift, too (8th March). Or, maybe you can help raise awareness about the importance of girl child education by sharing what you learned today on social media or in daily conversations. Always remember that our small actions collectively create big changes in empowering the girl child through education.

The world can look like it’s full of doom and gloom. That’s why it’s important to acknowledge and celebrate progress. Let’s keep working toward a world where every girl and woman has access to education and the opportunity to thrive.

This post was all about how girl child education is the key to break cycles of extreme poverty, gender-based violence, and their limited access to education.