Plan International is calling on world leaders to give girls the same chances as boys by pledging more funding to education at the Global Partnership for Education financing conference in Dakar, Senegal, February 1-2. Although more girls than ever now access and complete primary school, too many girls around the world are still denied secondary school education. Less than 1 in 3 girls in Sub-Saharan Africa and fewer than half in South Asia are enrolled in secondary school. If no action is taken, over 400 million girls will not secure secondary-level skills by 2030.
Financing education will equip girls with the skills, knowledge and competencies they need to be able to claim and exercise broader socio-economic rights, and be empowered as leaders and decision-makers. In conjunction with providing funding, governments must target their resources towards strategies that keep girls in school.