Continuing the fight for girls’ education

One of the biggest barriers facing girls is lack of access to education. It’s a barrier we’re working to break through with our #WriteTheWrong campaign, calling for increased commitment and funding to end the global education crisis – a crisis that means every day 260 million children are not receiving any schooling.

Over the past two decades, there have been considerable efforts to reduce the gender inequalities in education, and the female out-of-school population has fallen by 50% worldwide. But significant regional and national disparities persist. 

Girls are still more likely to be permanently excluded from education than boys. According to the latest data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 9 million girls of primary school age will never spend a day in school, compared to about 3 million boys.

Behind these statistics, there are strongly entrenched attitudes and systematic forms of discrimination which are holding back girls and denying them a fair start in life. Read more about them here. 

Yet when girls are given the chance to go to school, the impact is hugely positive. This can be at the individual level – such as increased employment and leadership opportunities, reducing the likelihood of child marriage, sexual or physical coercion or violence. The benefits also come for society as a whole – in local economic growth, reductions in poverty and child mortality, and improved health and wellbeing for whole communities. 

A more equal world, with equal access to education, is a more just and fair world. 

Join us and our #WriteTheWrong campaign to help us ensure that all children, including girls, are given the opportunity to go to school and to be given the chance to achieve their full potential. 

Sign up below for updates on the campaign and to learn more about our work to end the global education crisis.