project on girl child education

17 ways to improve girls’ education

With over 32 million girls out of schools worldwide, there are many ways in which girl’s education can be promoted – a new website offers at least 17 examples of how to do so.

From 2014 -2016 the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI), in partnership with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), launched the UNGEI Fund for Documentation of Good Practice in Girls’ Education and Gender Equality.

The UNGEI Fund provided technical assistance and small grants to 17 non-governmental organisations from across the globe, including Educaiton International’s (EI) affiliate in Uganda, UNATU, for the collection and identification of good practice examples in girls’ education. The result of this two-year project was the generation of a rich pool of evidence and materials - including case studies, synthesis report and a documentation guidance note.

Project Highlights

The 17 case studies highlighted under the project found many different and creative ways in which girls’ education can be promoted. Overall, the case studies demonstrated that even small-scale programmes aimed at changing attitudes towards girls and women in the context of education, can contribute to gender equality in the wider society.

Most importantly, the case studies found that girls were enabled to aspire to professional and personal opportunities beyond school when programs engaged the boys and the community, fostered changes in attitudes and behaviors towards girls, and focused on increasing girls’ agency and self-confidence.

Teachers’ Action for Girls

One of the case studies selected by UNGEI is the joint initiative between UNATU, EI’s affiliate in Uganda, and CTF, the Canadian Federation of Teachers, also affiliated to EI, called Teachers’ Action for Girls (TAG). It focuses on motivating teachers and school heads to transform schools in support of the girl-child.

The overall purpose of the TAG program is to contribute toward the education of the girl-child by empowering teachers with knowledge, skills, and values to become lead actors in creating gender responsible school environments. It introduced an innovative girl-focused approach designed to advance girls’ education specifically and to challenge the impediments to girls’ success at school.

With a perspective being inherently focused on teachers, the projects’ approach to girls’ education improvement is that teacher organisations are an important partner in improving girls’ safety and success at school, because of their direct connection with teachers and school heads. The TAG project reflects this assumption in its name: Teachers’ Action for Girls.

Through the TAG approach, girls’ safety and equal opportunities at school is treated as a teacher’s professional responsibility. It put a great focus on gender equality training, using teacher-to-teacher professional development, and strengthening the teachers’ ability to make choices and act upon them. This leads to whole-school change and parental and community involvement.

Find out more

To ensure these valuable project findings are shared with sector wide practitioners, researchers and donors a website has been established to centrally host materials. To view case studies and find out more about the project visit www.goodpracticefund.org

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Girls' Education

Every day, girls face barriers to education caused by poverty, cultural norms and practices, poor infrastructure, violence and fragility. Girls’ education is a strategic development priority for the World Bank.

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 mission to end poverty on a livable planet. 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 2018 World Bank study estimates that the “ limited educational opportunities for girls, and barriers to completing 12 years of education, cost countries between US$15 trillion 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  UNICEF   estimates, around the world, 122 million girls are out of school, including 34 million of primary school age, and 87 million of secondary school age. 

Globally, primary, and secondary school enrollment rates are getting closer to equal for girls and boys (92% male, 90% 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 38% of girls completing lower secondary school compared to 43% 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 50% for females, and 56% 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 26% 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 2017 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.

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 162 active projects (as of February 2024) 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  (PDF) , 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.

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 was 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.  

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 65 percent or $5.5 billion of the total GPE grants since inception, that also 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.

Publication:   Achieving Gender Equality in Education: Examining Progress and Constraints

Report:  Breaking Barriers, Improving Futures: Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan

Girls’ education in conflict is most at risk: Here’s how to reach them

Why girls’ education should remain a priority

Closing the gap: Tackling the remaining disparities in girls’ education and women’s labor market participation

Empowering adolescent girls in Africa through education

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Girl Child Network’s education programmes seek to complement government initiatives towards achieving inclusive quality basic education as articulated in Kenya’s Vision 2030, EFA Goals, and Sustainable Development Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Education as a strategy, is viewed as a tool for empowerment, self-realization and critical in reducing violence and exposure to risks. GCN recognizes school as a safe place with the understanding that a single day that a girl, a boy or any youth spends in school reduces exposure and vulnerability to risks. The education program focuses on education for children with disabilities, education for hard to reach children in marginalized ASALs regions of Kenya, education for vulnerable adolescent girls and young women from resource poor rural and urban slums, promoting equity in basic education and enrolling out of school children among others.

The Education Program has projects such as No One Out (NOO), Our Right to Learn – Reaching the Unreached, Kenya Equity in Education (KEEP), DREAMS IC, Champions for Change Project (C4C) among others.

Programmes & Projects

She is digital project.

Girl Child Network is partnering with Mexoxo , L’Oreal , and Google to empower young girls and women in aiding acceleration of digital inclusion for women and girls through the She is Digital program with the aim of offering the target audience the following: • Enrich knowledge in Digital marketing to the beneficiaries so that they can have the capacity to sell their wares. • Accelerate adaptation to the sudden digital transformation brought on by COVID-19 and beyond. • Upskill and re-skill the target audience in Digital Marketing • Achieve socio-economic growth The project aims to make women and girls unleash their potential to reach socio-economic independence and growth with skill-building and education programs with a target of more than 15,000 participants from Kenya.

ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN FOR GIRLS' EDUCATION & EMPOWERMENT PROJECT

Girl Child Network in partnership with UNESCO , is working on the Global Education Coalition (GEC) , a platform for collaboration to protect the right to education during COVID-19 and beyond.

As part of the Global Education Coalition and with funding from Prada, UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa is supporting activities to catalyze local advocacy for girls’ education and empowerment through the creation of awareness on the value of girls’ education, and re-entry policy for pregnant girls through Youth-led/Girls-led advocacy campaigns to reinforce Back-to-School Campaigns. In 2022, UNESCO partnered with the Girl Child Network (GCN) to support locally driven advocacy for girls’ education and empowerment in two counties Kwale and Kajiado of  Kenya as an extension of the Keeping girls in the picture campaign.  We are working with 20 secondary schools in the counties of Kajiado and Kwale.

LET GIRLS LEARN PROJECT

The Purpose of this project is to support over 4,000 children in primary education, targeting 13 public primary schools, to increase enrolment, retention, and performance, and to provide 20,000 people with access to safe, clean water in 2 of the poorest areas of Kenya, the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) of Turkana and Kajiado . The particular focus is on the ‘girl child’ who tends to have low attendance rates due to gender discrimination, menstrual health management issues, and the fact that girls tend to have primary water collection duties. Their low attendance at primary school has resulted in poor outcomes for girls including child marriage, FGM, as well as reducing their participation and decision making influence in the family and community.

This initiative to bring girls back into primary education utilizes a proven approach; providing enhanced school facilities (including latrines, washing facilities, classrooms, and girls’ dormitories), improved access to water and support programmes for the community to increase buy-in for girls’ education.

The Project Aims to

• Increase school enrolment, retention, performance, and transition of students, especially girls and children with disabilities, in target communities
• Improve access to adequate and safe drinking water and improved hygiene and sanitation practices in target communities, and
• Increase community support for education and
• Improve livelihoods, food security and nutrition in target communities.

Project Interventions

• Construction and furnishing of 8 classrooms, construction of 13 gender responsive and disability accessible latrine blocks and installation of 28 hand washing facilities to provide a conducive learning environment in the districts of Kapedo and Kenyewa.
• Construction and furnishing of 2 new dormitories to improve safety for girls.
• 1 borehole drilled and equipped to provide water to over 20,000 people in Kapedo.
• Monthly community conversations and peace dialogues will be held to help reduce both the harmful cultural practices and insecurity, resulting in more girls and children with disabilities enrolled in school.
• Diversification of livelihoods through the establishment of Village Loans and Savings Associations (VLSA) for 10 women’s groups, supporting families to meet the basic needs an rights of their children.

'Our Right to Learn–Reaching the Unreached' (ORL–RTU) Project

Girl Child Network with support from Educate A Child (EAC), a global program of the Education Above All Foundation is implementing ‘Our Right to Learn – Reaching the Unreached’ Project in Kwale, Garissa and Kajiado counties. The aim of the project is to increase access to quality primary education for 47,515 Out Of School Children (OOSC) from resource poor households in the three counties. The project works with a total of 120 public primary schools; 45 in Kajiado (25 in Kajiado North and 20 in Mashru sub-counties), 45 in Kwale (20 in Matuga and 25 in Msambweni sub-counties) and 30 in Garissa (Balambala sub-county) counties.

The project is guided by five broad strategies that include; firstly awareness creation to the communities by convening community conversations and dialogues to challenge the entrenched social norms and cultural practices that substantially contributes to children not being enrolled or dropping out. Key areas of focus would include but not limited to; negative attitudes and perceptions on the benefit of education particularly for the girl child, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), forced/child marriages, child labour among others. The desired outcome at this level is change of attitude and perceptions by communities and increased communities support towards education of their children.

Secondly, the project aims at enhancing the capacity of duty bearers with a view of training them on their duties and responsibilities to enable them meet their legal obligations of enforcing implementation and monitoring of laws and policies that support enrollment and retention of OOSC as well as child protection. Thirdly, the project aims at engendering friendliness of the school learning environment with the aim of making it friendlier and gender sensitive and attractive for girls and boys to enroll and participate in education. Through rehabilitation of sanitation facilities, training of teachers on leaner centered methodologies, training of School Boards of Managements on gender responsive school development planning, reduced gender based violence and stereotypes, then schools would become more safe, secure and friendly for all children.

Fourthly, the project will empower boys and girls with information on rights and life skills to enable them acquire confidence and aspiration to learn and lastly conduct policy advocacy with a view of developing policy briefs and advocacy strategies to influence policy change and actions on legal policy and frameworks that support education for OOSC.

Every Girl In School (EGIS) Project

Every Girl in School (EGIS) Project is a 3 year project aimed at increasing access to quality primary education for children, especially girls and children with disabilities from nomadic pastoralist communities in Turkana and Kajiado Counties in Kenya. The project will target the hardest to reach marginalised girls and children with disabilities from resource-poor households from the two project counties.

The project will leverage on the best practices and lessons learnt during implementation of the previous project, to implement time tested and proven interventions to unlock community level barriers, school level barriers, household level barriers, system level barriers and internal level barriers to girls and children with disabilities’ confidence and aspiration to access and meaningfully participate in education.

The project Theory of Change is premised on the belief that access to inclusive quality education is possible for all children, including those with disabilities, if  communities can change their attitude in support of education;  the schools are  inclusive and gender responsive, children are protected and supported to build their self-esteem, legal and policy frameworks that supports quality and inclusive education are implemented; and lastly if the target communities are empowered to improve their livelihoods to support their children’s education.

The project is guided by 4 objectives;

• Objective 1: To increase access to inclusive, equitable and quality primary education for children, especially girls and children with disabilities, from the Maasai and Turkana communities.
• Objective 2: To ensure that target communities have a positive attitude towards education and are addressing negative social norms which limit (girls’ and children with disabilities’) participation.
• Objective 3: To ensure that government policies, programmes and legal frameworks are focused on upholding human rights and ensuring inclusive, equitable and quality basic education for all children, especially girls and children with disabilities.
• Objective 4: To ensure that target communities have improved livelihoods to support education of their children, especially girls and children with disabilities.

No One Out Project – NOO Project

The No One Out project targets to improve access to education by children with disabilities in informal settlements in Nairobi. The project is implemented with support from Christian Blind Mission (CBM) and is implemented in the urban informal settlements in the Eastlands region of Nairobi County. The project works with Education Assessment and Resource Centre (EARC) Curriculum Support Officers – Special Needs Education (CSO-SNE) to identify, assess, refer and place children with disabilities. The assessment is done to identify children with disabilities and inform early interventions that include; referral for medical interventions and follow up to ensure they enroll later in schools, placement in schools for education, linkages for psychosocial support and registration with social protection schemes.

We partner with the school administration to address barriers that hinder children with disabilities from accessing education and achieving full inclusion. The support to schools include awareness creation about disabilities and inclusive education, enhancing access by improving the facilities to be accommodative and accessible by learners with disabilities, and provision of resource materials for learning to children with disabilities.

We work with community members to create awareness about disabilities and the concept of inclusive education with the aim of achieving full inclusion in schools and communities. The result is that the communities ultimately acquire positive values, attitudes and skills fundamental to the support of inclusive education.

Kenya Equity in Education (KEEP Project) - ENDED

Girl Child Network recognizes that girls and children with disabilities in ASAL regions (Kajiado and Turkana Counties) in Kenya face barriers in access to education. The KEEP project seeks to reduce/eliminate the barriers in three levels; the individual level, the school level and the community level through strategies such as social mobilization, sensitization and awareness creation, advocacy, direct support, capacity building and community conversations. The Project is implemented in partnership with Aidlink and with support from Irish Aid. The interventions are designed and implemented to provide thousands of children in ASAL regions with access to clean water, improved sanitation and hygiene as well as knowledge on their rights and responsibilities as a means to protect them from abuse. We work with the national government, county governments, schools, families and communities to create safe spaces for children to learn, be protected and nurtured to thrive, irrespective of their age, gender or disability. We also partner with schools, families and communities to train teachers, school boards of management, children and the youth to ensure we leave no one out. In addition to this, we also conduct extensive awareness exercises to emphasis the importance of education with a view of changing the community attitudes on girls and children with disabilities participation in education. ASAL region is prone to droughts due to negative effects of climate change. Provision of feeding programme in the project schools not only retains children in school but also ensures the drought does not negate the impact of the project on empowerment of girls and women.

Wezesha Elimu Project - ENDED

Children with disabilities have a fundamental right to education just like any other children, as outlined in several International and National legislative and policy instruments. Some of these instruments include the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD, 2006) and the Basic Education Act, 2013 among others.

The 2018 Sector Policy for learners and trainees with disabilities emphasizes the need to increase access, enhance retention, and improve quality and relevance of education to all. It also stresses on strengthening early identification and assessment to ensure equal opportunities in provision of education. In line with Kenya Vision 2030, in particular this social pillar envisions attainment of globally competitive quality education for all children including those with disabilities. In addition, the Basic Education Act, (2013) provides for free and compulsory basic education for all, promotion of quality and relevant education. It also provides for the right to equal standards of education. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 requires member states like Kenya to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.

PROJECT INTERVENTIONS

Provision of specialist medical services through mobile clinics targeting children with disabilities with no access to treatment and surgical interventions

Mobile clinics for diagnosis and provision of related services to patients

Carrying out specialized pediatric orthopedic surgical interventions

Providing mobility devices to children with disabilities

Conducting orthopedic rehabilitation on children with disabilities

Providing post-operative care to children who have received treatment

Strengthen appropriate placement, retention and transition of learners with disabilities in inclusive education as per the 2018 Sector Policy for learners and trainees with disabilities:

Accessibility audit of identified schools to determine readiness for inclusive education.

Providing safe, accessible and learner-friendly environment for children with disabilities.

Direct support to learners with disabilities and schools through provision of dignity kit and specialized teaching/learning resources to learners with disabilities.

Facilitating EARCs to conduct functional assessments, referrals and placement of children with disabilities.

Sensitization of teachers and members of boards of management on disabilities and the concept of inclusive education.

Increasing awareness level among target schools, families and communities on the rights of children with disabilities:

Sensitization forums in the targeted school communities to create awareness on the rights of children with disabilities.

Awareness creation sessions in schools on disabilities and inclusive education.

Provision of psychosocial support to patients and parents after undergoing surgery

PROJECT REGIONS INCLUDE:  Homa Bay County, Kisumu County, Baringo County, Nairobi County and Mombasa County.

Champions for Change (C4C Project) - ENDED

Girl child Network with the support from Rise Up – Champions for Change (C4C) has been implementing Afya kwa Elimu project in Kenya. The project worked with policy makers from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) to review the National School Health Policy of 2009 whose time had lapsed and also ensure drug and substance abuse that contributes to incidences of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) among adolescent and youth in schools are addressed. The National School Health Policy and its Guidelines has since been reviewed and approved but currently awaiting its official launch. The policy provides a legal framework that regulates prevalence of drug and substance abuse, especially alcohol and cigarettes among adolescents; access to healthy foods mainly at the schools and household level; exercise; and change of behavior towards healthy living practices. This will in turn lead to a decrease in the reported cases of NCDs among adolescents and youth; the drop-out cases in schools; and deaths of the youth from NCD related causes; above all reduced poverty.

TAKE THE LEAD PROGRAM

Girl Child Network is partnering with L’Oréal Fund for Women, Mexoxo, and e-Cornell University to bring this program to the women in Kenya.

Basically, the learning Platform is provided by E-Cornell University .

                                               PROJECT OBJECTIVE

To democratize education (remove barriers or make education available to all individuals regardless of their background) in Kenya.

                                                PROJECT TARGET

Enroll over 10,000 young women and girls in Kenya aged 16 and above.

                                                       TO ENROLL:

Visit https://www.mexoxo.com/e-cornell , sign up and start Learning.

Improving Inclusive Education (IIE)

The Inclusive Education project is based on the understanding that children with disabilities have a right to participation which is facilitated by the early identification, intervention, referral and enrollment of children with disabilities in schools.

The project seeks to intervene by improving the accessibility of facilities in schools and EARCs and capacity building for all the stakeholders to build synergy.

Project key outcomes

• Outcome 1 : 61 schools and 6 EARC’s are accessible and have qualified staff for inclusive education and early intervention
• Outcome 2: Local stakeholders cooperate in identifying and referring children with disabilities
• Outcome 3 : Stakeholders in inclusive education are empowered to use synergies and be accountable for their work

InJob project

THE “INJOB” PROJECT.

Pathways to inclusive education and promotion of employability for vulnerable youth in the public vocational training centers.

PROJECT BRIEF

Girl Child Network (GCN) is an independent, non-political, non-religious and non-profit organization partnering with over 300 organizations working to improve the well being of children in Kenya with emphasis on the education of the girl child. The Network was established in 1995 as follow up of the Beijing Platform for Action and implementation of Article 12- The Girl Child. GCN came into being to primarily mainstream children, women and young people activities, and initiate interventions that focuses child protection, gender, democracy and governance, research, policy advocacy, education, health, capacity development, HIV/Aids and emergency response through Advocacy, action implementation, information sharing and strengthening of children programming in Kenya.

Girl Child Network (GCN) is implementing “ Injob” project supported by Christain Blind Mission-Kenya (CBM) which is implemented through a Consortia of Partnering Organizations such as No One Out (NOO), Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority-TVETA, A Companionship at Work (COWA), Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and Laboratory Action Research for CO-development (ARCO-PIN). This is a three (3) year Project, targeting vulnerable youth and young people of age between 15-35 whose main goal is to promote the educational, social and professional inclusion of vulnerable youth and young people with disabilities in Kenya . The Project anticipates to increase the number of youth with disabilities students with relevant skills, including technical and professional, and favor their participation in the labor market, both as employment and self-employment. The specific Objective of the Project is aimed at strengthening the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system for the educational inclusion and the job placement of vulnerable youth and young people with disabilities within Nairobi TVETs.

The project is based on the understanding that youth with disabilities have the potential to participate and access quality and equitable index in professional training by restructuring TVETs to be accessible to students with disabilities which will favor their involvement in industrial attachment and labor market.

To realize this goal, the project is guided by three broad results. Each seeks to increase support and participation of young people with disabilities in labor inclusion by targeting government systems and communities in informal settlements of Nairobi County in Kangemi, Waithaka, Dandora and Mathare

The Target TVETs institutions are Kiwanja , Kangemi, Mathare, Dandora Greenlight, Waithaka, Bahati, Ofafa Jericho, Mathare Special . Vocational Training centers. The Outcomes include; Strengthened Educational system for TVETs and promotion of inclusive professional Education, Improved Educational and Psycho-social support services for the Inclusion of vulnerable and disabled young people and Promote Job placement and self- employment of vulnerable and disabled students in Nairobi TVETs.

Main project activities

Development and dissemination of disability policy in public vocational training institutions.

• 1500 copies

Community awareness-raising on inclusion of persons with disabilities within the educational context

• CFs & CC-quarterly basis target 30pax
• Disability champions -16 of them (any one trained on inclusion and disability issues and voluntarily are willing to create awareness about disability within their workplace or elsewhere)

Provision of scholarships for students with special educational needs and removal of architectural barriers in public vocational training institutions

• Scholarships- 160 students with disabilities. (Grant will cover school fees, school uniform if required, transport, school learning materials, assistive devices and other tools required in the training course) note: the kit content will be different depending on the specific needs of each beneficiary
• Accessibility audit and infrastructure modification

Activation of labour inclusion paths for people with disabilities (aims to promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities through digitization)

• Conduct market survey (30 days) in companies on perception on employment rate of persons with disabilities -promotes job placements
• Awareness creation of company staff on disability and labor inclusion.
• Provision of linkage for industrial attachment and placement of students in company facilities. Placement will last 3-5 months

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• Inclusive, quality education

Gender equality and education

Our approach to inclusive, quality education is through the lens of gender-transformative education.

This seeks to utilise all parts of an education system – from policies to practices to community engagement – to transform stereotypes, attitudes and practices. Our aim is to challenge power relations, rethink gender norms and binaries, and raise awareness of the root causes of inequality and systems of oppression.

Learning to lead

School is a space in which girls exercise their agency, make their voice heard, and access their first leadership opportunities.

However, 129 million girls are currently out of school.

Being out of school doesn’t just have devastating consequences for girls’ life opportunities – it places them at risk of teen pregnancy, child marriage, female genital mutilation and other forms of gender-based violence.   Education is critical in tackling harmful gender norms, and empowering girls to drive change. It gives girls the skills to become leaders, innovators and change makers, and to tackle future crises.

Equality, inclusion and diversity

We aim to provide millions of girls across the world with safe, quality, gender-transformative education so they may find their voices and learn to lead. We work ensure that girls realise they are equally deserving of the skills required to succeed.

We focus our efforts on equality, inclusion and diversity. Our programmes don’t just work in classrooms with teachers, but also include communities, governments, religious leaders, family members and children in order to bring an end to gender inequality in education.

Urging leaders to fund girls’ education because #EducationShiftsPower

Unless world leaders step up and invest adequately in education, there is a risk that the climate emergency will lead to millions more girls missing out on school in the coming years.

Increased investment in education and girls’ leadership will play an essential role in ensuring girls and young women are able to demand their rights, hold decision makers to account, and challenge the status quo, including the systems and norms which reinforce gender and climate injustice around the world.

This is why we are working together with young activists who are calling on world leaders to fund and support gender-transformative, climate-aware education.  Transform Education * is a coalition of feminist activists and youth-led networks hosted by the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI), working to transform education for gender equality.

Through our partnership, we have jointly created the  #EducationShiftsPower  campaign, using key moments throughout the year, including the Transform Education Summit , to advocate for education that advances gender and climate justice and demand young people are engaged in transforming education systems (including in curriculum development and decisions on financing).  

Effects of crisis on girls’ education

Girls in crisis settings are nearly  2.5 times more likely to be out of school  than those living in countries not in crisis. In emergencies and protracted crises, education responses are severely underfunded.  

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare gross inequalities in our society, and the climate emergency is set to exacerbate these long into the future. Moreover, anti-rights movements push back on education, particularly on gender-transformative education and comprehensive sexuality education.

These factors hit girls’ education particularly hard and threaten to roll back years of progress, but we won’t stand by and watch girls fall even further behind. 

Read our brief on gender-transformative education

Re-imagining education for a more inclusive world.

Gender-Transformative Education e-learning course

Reimagining education for a more just and inclusive world..

Learn more about mainstreaming Gender Transformative Education in development and humanitarian programming.

Related pages

Climate change education capacity statement

Youth leaders call for gender equality and education at COP28

* Plan International is not responsible for the content of other sites.

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Girls’ Education Accelerator

GPE is committed to giving every girl a quality education and helping partner countries achieve gender equality through dedicated funding.

In December 2020, GPE created the US$250 million Girls’ Education Accelerator to support opportunities for girls to attend school and learn, leading to transformational change.

The Girls’ Education Accelerator provides resources to support gender equality in countries and regions where girls’ education has been identified as a main challenge.

On this page

How it works, eligibility and applications.

GPE’s engagement in partner countries is based on a Partnership Compact that national authorities prepare with the support of partners. The compact defines focus areas to deliver transformational and sustainable improvements to the education sector. External support – including from GPE – is expected to align with these focus areas.

Eligible countries that have identified gender equality as a focus area in their compact can integrate a request for the Girls’ Education Accelerator in their system transformation grant or Multiplier grant application. Activities to be supported through the Girls’ Education Accelerator’s should align with those identified in these grants by complementing and extending their effects on gender equality.

The Girls’ Education Accelerator is not designed to fund standalone programs or discrete components of broader programs. Instead, the full package of GPE financing a country accesses should support programs that close the gap in outcomes between boys and girls.

• Operational framework for the Girls’ Education Accelerator
• Core indicators for the Girls’ Education Accelerator. Draft
• Frequently asked questions. Draft

30 countries where girls lag the farthest behind boys can access this funding:

• Afghanistan
• Central African Republic
• Congo, Dem. Rep.
• Cote d'Ivoire
• El Salvador
• Marshall Islands
• Papua New Guinea
• Sao Tome and Principe
• South Sudan
• Eligible countries secure support on demand (no specific timeline for requests).
• For countries eligible for system transformation grants , allocations from the Girls’ Education Accelerator are set at 50% of a country’s indicative allocation, up to a maximum of US$25 million.
• Countries that are only eligible for the Multiplier and the Girls’ Education Accelerator but not system transformation grants can access the Accelerator on the same terms and based on the level of Multiplier funding they mobilize.
• Countries are encouraged to apply for the various GPE grants at the same time to maximize impact and alignment.
• Accessing the Girls’ Education Accelerator does not create new milestones for grant preparation or add more time to the process. The collective financing follows the same quality assurance process as any other grant from GPE.

Supporting girls to learn, thrive and lead change

CAMFED catalyzes the power of the most vulnerable girls and young women to create the future they imagine: for themselves, for their communities, and for Africa.

Education is a fundamental right, and a matter of justice. Girls' education and women's leadership are also key to tackling our most pressing global challenges. Together, we can ignite the world-changing power of girls’ education:

Women's Leadership

Through the CAMFED Association, women are leading action on the big challenges their countries face - from child marriage, and girls’ exclusion from education, to unemployment and climate change.

Social Justice

Social justice starts with educated girls, supporting each other to become independent, influential women, working together with communities to provide equal access to tools and opportunities for all.

Economic Development

When women gain access to skills training, resources and opportunities to grow rural enterprises, they gain economic independence and agency, supporting themselves, their families and communities to thrive.

Climate Action

Educated women make choices that reduce future carbon emissions and increase community resilience to climate change, including through leadership for sustainable futures and the adoption of climate-smart technologies.

New film release: Tunainuana

Come together over a story of sisterhood and change ignited by education. Watch and share our powerful 12-minute film called TUNAINUANA – Together We Rise.

Supporting girls to learn and lead

Our grassroots-led movement is transforming the lives of girls and their communities by educating a new generation of game changers:

Since 1993, we have supported 7.2 million children to go to school in Ghana, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, including 2.2 million girls at secondary school

The CAMFED Association - our powerful network of women leaders educated with CAMFED support - is 278,959 strong and counting

Evidence shows that girls supported by CAMFED are three times less likely to drop out of school

Learning outcomes among girls supported by CAMFED have significantly improved, and 95% say they are better able to shape their life goals

You can ignite the CAMFED Multiplier Effect

CAMFED graduates can join Africa’s largest and fastest-growing sisterhood of leaders, the CAMFED Association. Each member, on average, supports another 3 girls to go to school with her own resources, as well as mentoring and encouraging many more. And as a network of activists, we create employment and opportunity, tackling inequality and injustice.

This is the CAMFED Multiplier Effect, and what Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times calls a “perpetual motion machine” — the positive impact a girl’s education has on others’ lives.

News Highlights

CAMFED Annual Review 2023

Read CAMFED’s 2023 Annual Review to find out how together we are transforming the lives of millions of young people in Africa through education and women's leadership.

Research Symposium: Community action is the bedrock for systems transformation

At a symposium hosted by the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre at the University of Cambridge, the University of Dar es Salaam and CAMFED, representatives of government Ministries, researchers, global philanthropic organisations and practitioners joined forces to explore how community engagement, women's leadership and a conducive policy environment can provide the perfect recipe for education systems transformation.

Associated Press features CAMFED's climate leaders in Zambia

Discover the stories of young Zambian women ensuring that all children — including those living with disabilities — can learn and thrive in a changing world.

Video: Angeline (Angie) Murimirwa's TED Talk 2023

Angeline (Angie) Murimirwa, CEO of CAMFED, helped found our sisterhood of leaders for girls’ education – the CAMFED Association – 25 years ago. Watch her TED Talk to see the world through the eyes of a girl in rural Africa, find out why school is not enough, and experience the difference that a ‘Big Sister’ can make.

Let Girls Learn profiles CAMFED's climate-smart teaching farm

Come behind the scenes at CAMFED’s climate-smart teaching farm in Chinsali, Zambia - subject of a video-led feature for the Evening Standard's 'Let Girls Learn' series.

CNN profiles CAMFED's Angeline (Angie) Murimirwa in Changemakers series

CNN’s African Voices Changemakers highlights the leadership of Angeline (Angie) Murimirwa and her sisters in the CAMFED Association, deploying their lived experience and deep expertise to achieve gender equality, economic development and climate action through girls’ education.

Thank you to our generous recent donors

Together we are breaking the cycle of poverty

Babette Boling $21.4

Alexis Carroll $26.6

Nastassja Mitchell $10.9

Kailani Jackson $13

Daniel Craft $52.9

Karen Price $10.9

Stephen Brockway $26.6

Linda Bell $50

Emily Bird £10.6

Aarti Patel $10.9

Dwanna Hughes $10.9

Kathy Engert $12

Meredith Hall $10.9

Gaylynn Cowan $26.6

Timothy Maret $30

New film release: Together We Rise

Come together over a story of sisterhood and change ignited by education

Discover our new film

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Girls’ education

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, what progress has been made on girls' education, why is educating girls so important, what are the barriers to girls' education, useful links.

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.

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

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:

• Economic growth

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.

• Fewer girls in child marriages

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.

• More control over their lives

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.

• More skills to be leaders

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.

They include:

• Poverty and child labour

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.

• Caring for relatives

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.

• Water and sanitation

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.

• Conflict and emergencies

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.

• Child marriage

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.

What Works in Girls’ Education: Evidence for the World’s Best Investment : Read the research report on the Brooking Institution website.

United Nations Girls Education Initiative : More information about the issue and the efforts to address it.

Donate to sponsor a Nanhi Kali

Gift a nanhi kali sponsorship, project nanhi kali: empowering girls across india.

Find out who we are and what we do for the girl child

Project Nanhi Kali was founded in 1996 at K.C. Mahindra Education Trust by Anand Mahindra with the vision of creating a world where girls, despite the patriarchal challenges and societal biases they face, are empowered through education.

Change and Continuity: Extended Support, Enhanced Empowerment

Starting from the academic year 2024-25, Project Nanhi Kali embarks on a new journey of empowering girls from lower income strata by supporting them through Grades 6 to 10 with targeted educational initiatives. In alignment with National Education Policy 2020, the educational support provides 21st century skills training, making the transition from school to the workplace more seamless. The skills include financial and digital literacy as well as life skills. The program also integrates physical education to cultivate leadership, teamwork and fitness.

550,000+ girls supported since 1996

For the year 2022-23, nearly 700,000 girls supported since 1996, impact in the year 2023-24.

girls supported

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GIRLS SUPPORTED THROUGH DIGITAL SKILLS & LIFE SKILLS (DEFG)

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Heart-warming stories

Madhurata, a Nanhi Kali, Rises Among Mumbai’s Top 25 in Standard X

Dream big, my daughter

Ganga and Jamana: A tale of perseverance

How can you help.

Project Nanhi Kali is a participatory project wherein you can sponsor the education of an underprivileged girl child for a minimum period of one year. For just Rs. 6,000, you can provide her with the key to a brighter future. Your support goes beyond mere financial assistance. It's an investment in her potential, her dreams, and her empowerment. With your sponsorship, she gains access to essential 21st century skills, a physical education module and a chance for her to break free from the humdrum of doing household work.

And it's not just about giving; it's about receiving too. As a sponsor, you'll receive an annual progress report, witnessing firsthand the impact of your generosity.

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Accueil > Actualités > ENLIGHT – The Girl Child Education project

The project ‘ ENLIGHT ’ envisions building a better future for girl children living in difficult circumstances through continued access to quality education. This is a collaborative effort of Capgemini and AIDE ET ACTION (INDIA). The project is being implemented in nine cities (Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Salem & Trichy) of India. In each city, the project engages with girl children belonging to a specific multiply vulnerable social group. The project currently engages directly with a total of 1936 girl children. ‘Enlight’ is being implemented with the support of NGO Partners (COMMITMENTS, DCCW, HAMARI MUSKAN, STREE MUKTI SANGATHAN & ASHRAYA FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN) in the cities of Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune respectively, while is being directly implemented by Aide et Action India in the cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Salem and Trichy.

WHY ‘ENLIGHT’?

Statistics reveal that only 3 out of 10 girls who enter class 1 complete class 8. While enrollment rates have increased in past few years but still the dropout rates are alarmingly high! 45% of Girls drop out of school by Class 5th and about 75% of them drop out by class 8th. Socio-economic and cultural barriers play a key role in education of the girl children and these barriers multiply along with the nature of difficult circumstances the girl children had to survive in. A girl’s education not only provides knowledge, it gives them power and awareness over their own lives, which benefits all in the long run. Educated girls develop several skills, information and self-confidence which helps her in becoming a better parent and citizen. Educating girls will help in population control, low infant mortality, reduce abuses, promote gender equality, reduce exploitation and child marriages.

WHAT ‘ENLIGHT’ DOES?

Enlight promotes collaborative actions amongst the girl children, Parents, Community Leaders, Teachers, relevant Government departments and the Employees of CAPGEMINI to strengthen, maximise and sustain the overall impact. Target Group:

• Bangalore: Girl Children from Muslim Community
• Chennai: Girl Children from Adi Dravida (Scheduled Caste)
• Delhi: Girl Children of Migrant families settled in slums
• Hyderabad: Girl Children with Disabilities
• Kolkata: Girl Children of Women in prostitution
• Mumbai: Girl Children of Waste – pickers
• Salem: Girl Children infected/ affected by HIV/AIDS
• Trichy: Girl children of Manual Scavengers
• Pune: Girl children of Denotified Communities

KEY OBJECTIVES

• Access and quality Primary education to children in difficult circumstances (especially girl child)
• Strengthen Community based education governance (Effective functioning of schools)
• Cognitive development of children via access to wider learning spaces through technology (ICT).
• Instill better health & hygienic practices, protection, and restoration of the environment amongst children.

KEY FOCUS AREAS

• Enhance competency levels and prepare children for higher education
• Promoting community participation in school governance
• Enhancing capacities of Teachers and promoting innovative and inclusive pedagogy
• Developing ICT skills amongst children thereby enabling them to access wider sphere of knowledge and learning
• Building awareness on health & hygiene and encouraging ecological restoration

Learn more about us at  www.capgemini.com. Rightshore ®  is a trademark belonging to Capgemini. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT P.B.Sajeev  – Regional Head (Programme Development and Support), South Asia Mobile: +91 – 9445035717 CLICK HERE TO VISIT PROJECT ‘ENLIGHT’ WEBSITE.

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Gender equality and education

Gender equality is a global priority at UNESCO. Globally, 122 million girls and 128 million boys are out of school. Women still account for almost two-thirds of all adults unable to read.

UNESCO calls for attention to gender equality throughout the education system in relation to access, content, teaching and learning context and practices, learning outcomes, and life and work opportunities. The  UNESCO Strategy for gender equality in and through education (2019-2025)  focuses on a system-wide transformation to benefit all learners equally in three key areas: better data to inform action, better legal and policy frameworks to advance rights and better teaching and learning practices to empower. 

What you need to know about education and gender equality

"her education, our future" documentary film.

Released on 7 March for 2024 International Women’s Day, “Her Education, Our Future” is a documentary film following the lives of Anee, Fabiana, Mkasi and Tainá – four young women across three continents who struggle to fulfill their right to education. 

This documentary film offers a spectacular dive into the transformative power of education and showcases how empowering girls and women through education improves not only their lives, but also those of their families, communities and indeed all of society. 

Global Accountability Dashboard

The Global Accountability Dashboard is a one stop resource that monitors country progress against key indicators on gender-transformative education, spotlights actions taken by governments and their partners, and provides an evidence hub of initiatives and good practices from 193 countries.

The Dashboard is supported by the Global Platform for Gender Equality and Girls’ and Women’s Empowerment in and through Education , a multi-stakeholder partnership emerging from the 2022 Transforming Education Summit. It complements and deepens the Summit’s Dashboard of Country Commitments and Action to Transform Education. 

Key figures

of which 122 million are girls and 128 million are boys

of which 56% are women

for every 100 young women

Empowering communities: UNESCO in action

Keeping girls in the picture

Everyone can play a role in supporting girls’ education

UNESCO’s new drive to accelerate action for girls’ and women’s education

2022 GEM Report Gender Report: Deepening the debate on those still left behind

Capacity building tools

• From access to empowerment: operational tools to advance gender equality in and through education
• Communication strategy: UNESCO guidance on communicating on gender equality in and through education
• Communication tools
• Keeping girls in the picture: youth advocacy toolkit
• Keeping girls in the picture: community radio toolkit

Monitoring SDG 4: equity and inclusion in education

Resources from UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report.

Related items

• Gender equality
• Policy Advice
• Girls education
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Education Cannot Wait Calls for Education to be Protected and Resourced as Children Across Ukraine Enter Third School Year Under War

The education of 4 million children has been disrupted, with some 600,000 children not able to access in-person learning due to ongoing fighting, attacks and displacement.

On a high-level UN mission to Ukraine this week, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) leadership met with girls and boys impacted by the brutal war and partners on the ground to better understand how the education of some 4 million children across Ukraine has been disrupted.

The visit concluded at the Fourth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen with ECW calling on world leaders to commit to protecting education from attack and to scale-up funding to provide life-saving access to safer in-person classes, remote learning opportunities when necessary, and remedial catch-up classes, driven by quality and inclusive education.

“This atrocious war must stop now! For as long as the children, adolescents and teachers in Ukraine suffer this unfathomable horror, schools must be protected from attacks. As a global community we must rise to the challenge before us to ensure that every girl and every boy in Ukraine impacted by this brutal war and the refugees have access to the safety, hope and opportunity that only a quality education can provide,” said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait ( ECW ), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations. “Our investment in education is an investment in recovery, peace, security and justice for Ukraine and beyond. It is an investment in the vast potential of future generations.”

ECW and its strategic donor partners have provided more than US$26.9 million in funding to support quality, holistic education programmes in Ukraine since 2017. Delivered by a consortium of partners including Finn Church Aid, the Kyiv School of Economics, Save the Children and UNICEF – in coordination with the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science – the programmes have reached more than 360,000 children, about 65% of whom are girls.

“The support from Education Cannot Wait is critical for children, their parents and teachers who are doing everything they can to keep classrooms open and to continue in-person learning despite the impact of the war across the country,” said Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Representative to Ukraine.

ECW’s support includes a US$20.4 million allocation to roll out a Multi-Year Resilience Programme in Ukraine. The investment seeks to mobilize millions more in additional funding and reach more than 150,000 children across 10 of Ukraine’s most-impacted areas.

The investments work to improve learning outcomes by providing safer and more accessible physical learning environments, expanding digital learning initiatives and providing alternative education opportunities. To address the challenges facing the girls and boys who are living through this ongoing conflict, there is also a strong focus on mental health and psychosocial support, and targeted support for girls and children living with disabilities.

At last year’s Education Cannot Wait High-Level Financing Conference, the Global Business Coalition for Education (GBCE) pledged to mobilize US$50 million from the business community in support of ECW’s four-year strategic plan. In partnership with GBCE, TheirWorld, HP and Microsoft, US$39 million in partnership and device donation for ECW has already been mobilized, and over 70,000 laptops have been shared with schools, teachers and other people in need, both inside Ukraine and in neighboring countries.

Since the start of the school year in early September, deadly and destructive attacks have again affected education facilities across Ukraine. Approximately 600,000 school-aged children are not able to access in-person learning, and since the start of the war over 1,300 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed, according to UNICEF . Even when children are in school, the constant threat of bombings and attacks is disrupting the quality and continuity of education for children who have been pushed from their homes, lost loved ones in the fighting, and live under constant threat.

Education Cannot Wait and its strategic partners are calling for US$600 million in additional funding to deliver on the global targets outlined in the Fund’s four-year strategic plan to provide children in crisis-impacted countries everywhere with quality, holistic education, and the hope for a better tomorrow.  

Note to Editors

B-roll and high-resolution photos are available here .

About Education Cannot Wait (ECW): Education Cannot Wait ( ECW ) is the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations. We support quality education outcomes for refugee, internally displaced and other crisis-affected girls, and boys, so no one is left behind. ECW works through the multilateral system to both increase the speed of responses in crises and connect immediate relief and longer-term interventions through multi-year programming. ECW works in close partnership with governments, public and private donors, UN agencies, civil society organizations, and other humanitarian and development aid actors to increase efficiencies and end siloed responses. ECW urgently appeals to public and private sector donors for expanded support to reach even more vulnerable children and youth.

On X/Twitter, please follow:   @EduCannotWait   @YasmineSherif1   @KentPage  

Additional information available at : www.educationcannotwait.org   For press inquiries: Anouk Desgroseilliers, [email protected] , +1-917-640-6820 Kent Page, [email protected] , +1-917-302-1735  

For other inquiries: [email protected]

For Press Inquiries:

Anouk Desgroseilliers: [email protected] +1-917-640-6820

Kent Page: [email protected] +1-917-302-1735

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Principal indicted, accused of not reporting alleged child abuse by Atlantic City mayor

The principal of Atlantic City High School has been indicted on charges including official misconduct and child endangerment

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The principal of Atlantic City High School has been indicted on official misconduct, child endangerment and other charges for allegedly failing to notify child welfare authorities that the teenage daughter of Atlantic City's mayor claimed she was being beaten at home by her parents.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday that the eight-count indictment against Constance Days-Chapman was made by a grand jury a day earlier.

The mayor's wife is the superintendent of schools in Atlantic City, and the high school principal's boss.

Days-Chapman is a close friend of Mayor Marty Small and his wife, La'Quetta, who were charged in April with abusing and assaulting their teenage daughter on numerous occasions. The Smalls deny any wrongdoing, as does Days-Chapman, who uses the nickname Mandy.

“Mandy is innocent of the charges in the indictment,” her lawyer Lee Vartan said. “We provided the prosecutor’s office with incontrovertible evidence of her innocence. The prosecutor ignored it; the jury will not.”

According to the prosecutor's office, in December 2023, the Smalls' then-15-year-old daughter told Days-Chapman she was suffering continuous headaches from being beaten by her parents in their home.

The principal did not notify state child welfare authorities as is required under state law and district policy, according to the indictment.

On Jan. 22, 2024, the girl informed a school staff member that she had been emotionally and physically abused at home, and that she had previously disclosed the abuse to Days-Chapman.

The school staff member discussed the matter with Days-Chapman later that same day, during which the principal denied that the Smalls' daughter ever told her she was being abused.

But Days-Chapman told the school staffer that she would report the matter to New Jersey's Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

Instead, she met with Small and his wife in a car outside the Smalls' home that evening.

The child welfare agency confirmed to authorities that no one from Atlantic City schools had reported any alleged abuse of the Smalls' daughter to them.

In announcing charges against the couple in April, the prosecutor's office said Marty Small is alleged to have hit his daughter multiple times in the head with a broom, causing her to lose consciousness. He also is accused of punching his daughter in the legs multiple times, leaving bruises, and threatening to throw her down a staircase and “smack the weave out of her head.”

Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

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