Last week the Trump Administration announced that it would be ending the Let Girls Learn Program. This program funds educational opportunities for girls around the world. Although the administration has put a temporary hold on stopping this vital program, we continue to work tirelessly to ensure that girls are given the opportunity to learn.
It has been documented that access to education and quality learning helps break the poverty cycle, reduce gender-based violence and early marriage, and diminish HIV rates. It prepares the next generation of women to gain confidence and make a difference.
The Washington Examiner published the below op-ed our CEO Erna Grasz wrote about this very topic. Please read and share this article within your own circles.
“An Educated Girl Will Change the World”
Imagine a girl. She is sitting at her desk in a one-room schoolhouse. She loves school, excels at learning and dreams of starting her own business one day. But when she turns 12 years old, her parents can no longer afford her school fees and she has to drop out of school. What happens to this little girl?
In America, there are easy answers for this question. But this little girl lives in Eastern Africa and the answers aren’t simple there. With no other option, this girl joins the 62 million girls around the world who aren’t in school. She is forced into marriage at the age of 13 and has her first baby at 14 years old. During her first five years of marriage she has 2 more children, becomes a repeated victim of gender-based violence and contracts HIV.
This story isn’t unique. It is tragically the same story that has happened to hundreds of thousands of girls who were robbed of their future because… Click here to continue reading.
Our Girls’ Advancement Program has proven that our eco-system approach to education works. We have direct experience with reducing dropout rates from pregnancy by 90%, increasing school attendance by 80%, and improving academic performance in Tanzanian schools by 90%. This program was recently recognized by the UN — Girls Education Initiative for its best practices and results.
If you want to give girls the chance to stay in school, find their voice, and pursue their dreams, then join us. If you would like to be a champion for girls around the world, please click here.
