Congratulations on the International Day of the Girl!

Today marks the first International Day of the Girl. Today we celebrate girls' contributions to society, but also we must recognize that girls are being held back in the education sector.

October 11, 2012 by Alexandra Humme, Global Partnership for Education

8 minutes read

Today is the first-ever International Day of the Girl. A joyful day, many would think. A day to celebrate girls and what they contribute to society.

But what does it mean to be a girl today in many countries of the world? Yes, education is a human right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, yet:

• some girls have been persecuted or even killed–just because they stood up for their right to an education

• girls are less likely than boys to attend school and less likely to learn how to read and write

• girls from poor families are more likely to drop out of school although just one additional school year can increase their earnings by 10 – 20%

• in many countries, girls are more likely to walk 1-2 hours a day to fetch water and do household work rather than go to school

• and, if girls do go to school they read textbooks with mostly male characters and no female role models.

And there‘s more: If you are a girl interested in math and science you are likely to be discouraged by teachers and harassed by male classmates. Parents in some areas wouldn’t be happy either, because knowing too much math and science might hinder your marriage prospects If you are a girl you are less likely to find a secure job and if you do you are likely to earn less than your male colleagues – that is if you are lucky and you are being paid at all, because 58% of all unpaid employees worldwide are women according to the World Development Report. You are less likely to hold public office. And you are more likely to be forced into an early marriage, which ends girls’ school days. “Child marriage can often result in ending a girl’s education,” said Anju Malhotra, head of UNICEF’s Gender and Rights Section. “In communities where the practice is prevalent, marrying a girl as a child is part of a cluster of social norms and attitudes that reflect the low value accorded to the human rights of girls. Education is one of the most effective strategies to protect children against marriage.”

The United Kingdom international development minister, Lynne Featherstone said, “We are stepping up our support to provide education opportunities to up to a million of the world’s poorest girls through the Girls Education Programme. Even a year of schooling can vastly reduce the chances of a teenage girl ending up in an early marriage.” Development organizations and governments around the globe agree that educating girls is a strategic development investment and that it is crucial to ensure that the 3.4 billion girls and women on the planet have the same chances to gain an education as boys and men. Currently, some 34 million girls are out of school around the world, and women make up nearly two third of the world’s illiterate. It is one of the priority areas of the United Nations Secretary General’s new Education First initiative to get these girls into school.

The Global Partnership for Education supports this initiative and our new strategic plan focuses on girl’s education as one key objective. We do this because there is plenty of evidence suggesting that countries with better gender equality and less gender disparity in primary and secondary education are more likely to have higher economic growth. Some countries lose more than $1 billion a year by failing to educate girls to the same level as boys. More educated women also tend to be healthier, work and earn more income, have fewer children, and provide better health care and education to their children. Girls education literally saves millions of lives, according to UNICEF. All of this eventually improves the well-being of the entire family and lifts households out of poverty. Usually, the next generation does even better and the community at large develops faster. The good news is that most developing countries have made considerable progress in reducing the gender gap in school enrollment, but significant gender gaps remain.

Estimates show that many countries will not meet the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Almost 30% of low- and middle-income countries will not meet the MDG for universal primary education. Additionally, more than 20% of low- and middle-income countries are unlikely to achieving gender parity in education as stipulated in the MDGs, reducing the potential empowerment of women and girls. So, let’s celebrate girls today and get ready to engage full speed in supporting girls’ education across the globe tomorrow and every day after that.