In this article, Boris Johnson, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom, explains why he has made the cause of girls’ education a central priority of British foreign policy. He also highlights UK’s efforts in supporting girls’ education including by promising £225m for the Global Partnership for Education over three years, an increase of nearly 50% on Britain’s previous contributions.

Investing in girls’ education is a smart investment: it boosts economic growth, curbs infant mortality, improves child nutrition and reduces population pressures, the latter being a huge issue for the countries of the Sahel which have the fastest-growing populations in the world.

Today, 74 million people live in Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad. The rapid growth in Niger’s population is partly explained by the fact that three-quarters of women are married before they reach adulthood. And child marriage is far more common if girls don't go to school.

Read the article on the NewStatesman