International Women's Day 2021

Education Cannot Wait celebrates the power of education in building 'generation equality'

By Education Cannot Wait

March 5^th, 2021

“Girls’ education is particularly under threat in emergencies and for children on the move and we need to continue to empower this next generation of women leaders through a quality education.”

-Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations

To build the women leaders of tomorrow, we need to invest in the education of girls and young women today. On this year’s International Women’s Day – “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world” – join Education Cannot Wait and our partners in celebrating the power of girls and women in changing our world, in building peace and sustainable economic development, and in paving the way for a future built on equality, opportunity and empowerment.

To date, Education Cannot Wait investments have reached 3.9 million children (~50 percent are girls) and the Fund’s signature multi-year resilience programmes target 60 percent girls and adolescent girls.

Across its global portfolio, Education Cannot Wait continues to champion access to a safe, quality education for young and adolescent girls. With our support, adolescent girls and young women who are also mothers are returning to the classroom in Chad. Girls with disabilities are learning to read and write in Bangladesh and Nigeria. And girls fleeing crisis in the Sahel are finding safety, hope and opportunity in quality learning environments.

The future leaders of Mali. Getty Images

Numbers at a glance

90%: Girls in crisis settings are 90 percent more likely to be out of secondary school than those living in countries where there is no crisis.
60%: Nearly 60 percent of women around the world work in the informal economy – earning less, saving less, and at greater risk of falling into poverty.
200 million: Girls/women have suffered female genital mutilation (FGM).
39 million: Girls caught in armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate-induced disasters and protracted crises need urgent educational support.
2.5X: Girls in crisis settings are 2.5 times more likely to be out of primary school than boys.

“The empowerment of girls and adolescent girls during an emergency and crisis through quality education is essential to achieving all the other Sustainable Development Goals. It is also essential in advancing peace processes and sustaining that peace.”

-Sigrid Kaag, Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands

“Providing girls with an education is transformative for them as human beings and for their societies at large. Studies show that increased access to education dramatically raises their lifetime earnings; national economic growth rates go up; child marriage rates decline, and child and maternal mortality fall. Girls’ education breaks down cycles of exploitation, protecting and empowering young girls and adolescents to reach their potentials and become change-makers.”

-Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait

“Access to education… can significantly reduce poverty, provide for better economic opportunities, and can improve health outcomes such as maternal and child health, protecting women and girls from a child, early and forced marriage, and providing essential sexual and reproductive health services that can enable women to engage in improved family planning.”

-Karina Gould, Canada’s Minister of International Development

“Despite progress, 130 million girls are still out of school around the world. . . This is not only an injustice – it’s a huge, missed opportunity for development. Educating girls not only combats poverty, but it also ensures better maternal and child health.”

-Henrietta H. Fore, UNICEF Executive Director

“Many factors, such as gender, social and economic status, disabilities, and ethnic background affect a child’s opportunity to access quality education in a crisis. Going to school can prevent children – typically girls – from being married early or under-age.”

-Birgitte Lange, CEO Save the Children Norway and Civil Society Organization Representative to the ECW High-Level Steering Group

In Afghanistan, girls represent 57 per cent of beneficiaries for the ECW-financed multi-year resilience programme. Photo © UNICEF Afghanistan/2020/Omid Fazel.

Access high-resolution photos from this story and our full media library on ECW’s FLICKR

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