An Uneducated Girl is a Girl in
Darkness
Two-thirds of the world’s 880 million illiterate
adults are women. Girls are more than 70 percent of the 125 million children who
don’t have a school to attend. Significantly more girls than boys enrolled in
the first grade fail to complete the first cycle of primary school.
Social traditions and deep-rooted religious and cultural
beliefs are most often the barriers to expanding girls’ educational
opportunities in undeveloped countries around the world.
Did you know that:
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In parts of the Horn of Africa girls are abducted for
marriage, causing them to be reluctant to walk the far distances to get to
school?
-
Throughout the Sahel region of Africa and parts of the
Middle East, a dowry system, often promoting that girls leave their studies,
is still in place?
-
The AIDS crisis in Southern Africa and Asia drives many
young women, little more than children themselves, to become heads of
families, become involved in child trafficking and drop out of
school?
- In parts of Latin America, girls and women from
indigenous areas have little opportunity to learn to read and
write?
Despite these conditions, there is much desire for change:
Parents in even the poorest circumstances everywhere hope that their children
will receive an education. Even though the barriers to education for girls in
these countries are many, they are not insurmountable. This is why Strong
Beginnings works to reduce the obstacles to education for girls.
Understanding the barriers to girls’ education in particular
is key to launching our innovative approaches. Educating girls and women results
in:
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Healthier, better educated children and
grandchildren;
-
Fewer maternal deaths and reductions in the under 5
mortality rate;
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Delayed marriage and better parenting skills;
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Improved literacy and numeracy skills leading to greater
economic opportunities;
- More skills and knowledge enhancing women’s self esteem
and the well being of
families.