'Grim future' if leaders fail to act on girls' education

GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR EDUCATION

Press Release 8th March 2006

Millions of Girls Still Out of School on International Women's Day

To mark International Women's Day, the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) urges world leaders to take action to reverse the unacceptably slow progress on girls' education. If they continue to delay, their inaction on girls' education will mean increased poverty later and will condemn countries hard-hit by AIDS and other diseases to a grim future of underdevelopment and dependence over the next decade.

Donor representatives meet in Moscow next week to review progress of the Education For All Fast-Track Initiative, the global plan agreed in 2002 to assist countries serious about getting all girls and boys into school. GCE believes this is a key opportunity for rich countries, especially the G8 nations, to come forward with pledges to enable the Initiative to reach more countries in the coming years. Campaigners expressed disappointment that political momentum from 2005 has not yet translated into hard cash to provide teachers, books and school buildings.

"Last year the world missed the first Millennium Development Goal: to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005," said Rasheda Choudhury, a GCE board member. "World leaders barely raise an eyebrow as millions of girls are denied life-saving education. As the representatives of rich countries gather again next week, we exhort them to take urgent action to get all girls and boys into school."

Education equips girls and women with a basic confidence in their abilities and rights, an ability to acquire and process information, and increased earning power. It costs as little as US$100 per year to provide this critical asset, and in the 21 st century there can be no excuse for 60 million girls to be denied it.

NOTES:

What is the Global Campaign for Education?

· The GCE is a broad coalition of development and education research agencies and unions active in over 100 countries. The GCE's aim is for every child in the world to get a quality education. Members include Oxfam, Action Aid, Education International, Save the Children, PLAN International, World Vision and the Global March Against Child Labor. For more information see: www.campaignforeducation.org

Facts on Girls' Education

· This year alone, failure to reach the 2005 UN girls' education goal will result in over 1 million unnecessary child and maternal deaths; 10 million over a decade.

· HIV/AIDS infection rates are doubled among young people who do not finish primary school. If every girl and boy received a complete primary education, at least 7 million new cases of HIV could be prevented in a decade.

· Education is a key economic asset for individuals and for nations. Every year of schooling lost represents a 10 to 20 per cent reduction in girls' future incomes. Countries could raise per capita economic growth by about 0.3% percentage points per year or 3 percentage points in the next decade - if they simply attained parity in girls' and boys' enrolments.

· Failure to educate girls and women perpetuates needless hunger. Gains in women's education contributed most to reducing malnutrition between 1970-1995, playing a more important role than increased food availability.

· Women with education are better able to successfully resist debilitating practices such as female genital cutting, early marriage and domestic abuse by male partners.

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Alex Kent
Campaigns and Communications Coordinator
Global Campaign for Education
office +27 11 447 4111
mobile +27 76 428 5390
www.campaignforeducation.org