International Women's Day

I #choosetochallenge myself and those around me to tackle the education gap for girls, that has been widened by the pandemic

As we celebrate International Women’s Day I have enjoyed engaging in important discussions about the language we use, and the many ways in which all genders ‘Choose to Challenge’ gender inequality. For my own part, I have been reflecting on the role of education in empowering women and girls, and the impact of the disruption to education in the last year to many millions of girls globally.

Educating girls is critical to empowering women and bringing communities out of poverty. UNESCO estimates that some countries lose more than $1 billion a year by not schooling girls to the same level as boys. Just one more year of school can increase a girl’s earnings, when she’s an adult, by up to 20%. The ripple effect of educating girls is significant, but has been made so much harder during the pandemic. I wrote recently about the damaging impact of billions of children being unable to attend school – some for more than a year.

Given the role I play in education globally as OUP’s Education Managing Director, together with my Non-Executive role for Brac, a global leader in creating opportunities for people living in poverty, it is easy sometimes to feel defeated by the scale of this challenge. But every day I am inspired by the people I am surrounded by (many being women), working to improve access to education and navigate this changing world.  

I am inspired by the women I coach, mentor, and sponsor. By my colleagues, including a project involving a partnership between Literacy India and Oxford University Press to establish an education and skill development centre for women in Noida. I am inspired by the BRAC Education Programme, which provided services to 1.7 million girl students and women in 2019, including 377,290 girl students enrolled in BRAC schools.

A recent report by Saeda Bilkis Bani revealed one devastating impact of the pandemic on girls: a worrying increase in child marriages - from an already horrifying 12 million per year, increasing by an additional 13 million between 2020 to 2030. This trend is just one of many that underscores a new burden of the pandemic on the poor and further damage to levels of gender equality globally.

More than ever, we must prioritise education for girls to give them access to paid employment, communities and opportunities for themselves and their families. This International Women’s Day I invite you to ask yourself what you can do to help make this happen.