Breaking the Barriers: Addressing Challenges to Girls' Education Globally

Girls’ education is a critical component in the fight against poverty and inequality. However, there are still many challenges facing girls' education globally, including period poverty, gender-based violence, financial illiteracy, lack of life skills, and social norms of gender roles.?

These challenges limit girls’ access to education and hinder their ability to reach their full potential. It is essential that we take action to address these challenges and ensure that all girls have the opportunity to receive a quality education.

In anticipation of International Women’s Day, we will be identifying and addressing key challenges facing global girls education, and exploring strategies for overcoming the obstacles to ensure every girl has access to a discrimination-free and quality education.

A pervasive problem that affects millions of girls worldwide is period poverty. Many girls do not have access to menstrual products, causing them to miss school or drop out of school altogether.?

The World Bank Group estimates at least 500 million women and girls globally lack access to the facilities they need to manage their periods. Meanwhile, 1.25 billion women and girls have no access to a safe, private toilet; 526 million don’t have a toilet at all.?

A UNESCO report estimates that one in 10 girls in Sub-Saharan Africa misses school during their period making them more likely to fall behind boys of their age.

In some communities, menstruation is considered a taboo topic, making it even more challenging for girls to manage their periods. Also, some traditions banish young girls to the mud huts or sheds for the duration of their period because it is believed they will otherwise bring bad luck or ill health. This not only affects their education but also their physical and mental health.?

Period poverty also contributes to the stigma and shame associated with menstruation, which can lead to a lack of confidence and self-esteem among girls.?

Every day, millions are likely to be making decisions to buy food or menstrual products. In many developing countries, it’s estimated that half of all women and girls are sometimes forced to use items like rags, grass or paper to manage their periods.

By addressing period poverty, we can remove a significant barrier to girls' education and help them to participate fully in society.?We need to provide girls with affordable and reusable sanitary pads and educate them on managing their menstrual hygiene without shame or stigma. Governments, NGOs, and businesses must come together to address this issue and ensure that girls have access to the necessary resources.

Gender-based violence is another significant barrier to girls' education which can take many forms, including sexual assault, female genital mutilation, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, trafficking for sexual exploitation, female infanticide and child marriage.?Worldwide, women and girls - especially adolescents face the greatest risks.

According to a report by World Health Organization , between 2005 and 2020, parties to conflict raped, forcibly married , sexually exploited, and committed other grave forms of sexual violence against at least 14, 200 children. This sexual violence disproportionately affects girls, who were 97 percent of cases from 2016 to 2020. What’s more, a United Nations report revealed that approximately, 736 million - one in three women and girls worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime.

Globally, girls face harassment and violence both inside and outside of schools, and this affects their mental and physical health, as well as their ability to learn.

Girls may feel unsafe and discouraged from attending school, which can have long-term negative effects on their future prospects. It is vital to create safe and inclusive learning environments for girls and ensure that perpetrators of violence are held accountable.?

We need to provide girls with education, resources and psychologically-safe environments to help them recognize and address gender-based violence, to reduce gender-based violence by empowering girls to speak out and stand up for their rights.

Another significant challenge that girls face globally is financial illiteracy and lack of life skills. Many girls do not have access to financial resources or the knowledge needed to make and manage money effectively.?

Women make up more than two thirds of the world’s 796 million illiterate people, data from 68 countries indicates that a woman’s education is a key factor in determining a child’s survival and data from 42 countries show that rural girls are twice as likely as urban girls to be out of school according to a report by United Nations .

Women are underrepresented in decision making worldwide in the government and different institutions due to social and cultural barriers like sex stereotyping, lack of media support, balancing work and life and lack of preparation for political activity.?

As of 2021, the global average for women's participation in national-level parliaments was around 25.5%, according to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union .

In terms of national leadership, as of 2021, there were 22 women serving as Head of State and/or Head of Government, which represents around 7% of all national leaders worldwide.

As for presidential posts specifically, as of 2021, there were 25 women serving as presidents or co-presidents of countries around the world, which represents around 6.5% of all presidential posts worldwide.

It's worth noting that these numbers have been increasing slowly but steadily over the past few decades, with more women being elected to national leadership positions every year. However, there is still a long way to go to achieve gender parity in these positions.

Millions of girls lack essential life skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making which are critical for navigating complex social and economic systems.

This can limit their ability to save, invest in their education or start businesses. We must work to provide girls with the life skills they need to succeed in life, including entrepreneurship, leadership, and digital literacy.

Finally, social norms of gender roles are a pervasive challenge facing girls' education. Girls face discrimination, prejudice and are often expected to conform to traditional gender roles, which can limit their access to education, employment, and other opportunities.?

While gender norms can affect all children, they are proven to affect girls more. More than 575 million girls live in countries where inequitable gender norms contribute to violations of their rights according to a study by Save the Children International .

Their research also revealed that Girls account for two-thirds of all children who perform household chores for at least 21 hours per week, which is the amount of time that can negatively impact a child’s schooling. Similarly women are reported to spend two to 10 times on unpaid caregiving and domestic work than men.

This can contribute to gender inequality and limit girls' ability and aspirations to achieve their full potential. When girls are excluded from receiving an education, their ability to earn a living?and become independent is drastically limited.

Without equal opportunities to learn, income inequality and dependence on men to provide keeps girls in a cycle of poverty and confinement to their homes to perform unpaid domestic labour.

To address this issue, we must work to change these social gender norms and create a more equitable and inclusive society where girls have the same opportunities as boys.

In addition, it is critical to recognize the critical role that education plays in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 5: Gender Equality. By empowering girls through education, we can help to break the cycle of poverty and inequality and create a more just and equitable world for all.

We must work together as a global community to support girls' education and address these challenges. Governments, NGOs, and businesses must prioritize investments in education and infrastructure to ensure that girls have access to quality education.?

We must increase access to resources and opportunities for girls and create safe and inclusive learning environments. It is also essential to prioritize the voices and experiences of girls themselves and ensure that they have a say in the decisions that affect their lives and futures.

In advance, I celebrate these super amazing women Wan Farihah Ahmad Fahmy ???? , Pixie Cigar (伊子燕) , and my fellow wonderful Global Girls’ Education cohort members - Bridget Goroti , Bukola Omowumi Abiiba , Shaista Naaz , Afsana Bintey Helal , Mehjabin Bhuiyan , Anjali Mehta , Akampa Secret , Mamta Prasad , Faith Ajayi (BSc.Ed, BLS, RN ???? ) , Ankita Singh , Tweteise Mary , Nandini Kochar , Bukola Omowumi Abiiba , Bridget Goroti Precious Osamudiamen Osemwonta PGDE, MIE, B.Sc , Fatima Saadeh , Sussan Benjamin , Oluwasegun Ogunsakin, M.Sc., FIIAS., PhD in view , Alex Nyabicha .

#periodpoverty ? ? #genderbasedviolence ? #financialliteracy ?

#genderroles ?? #socialnorms ?? #genderequality ?? #qualityeducation

#internationalwomensday2023