UNICEF: Help girls learn

 THE United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is focusing on seeing more girls in school and an improvement on the quality of learning for all children.

To mark the second international Day of the Girl Child, the organisation has highlighted the power of innovation that can help them reach every girl.

UNICEF executive director Anthony Lake said education could transform the lives of girls and strengthen their communities.

He said UNICEF and its partners were exploring how technology could increase access to education for out-of-school girls and improve the quality of learning for every child.  

Despite the decreasing number of girls out of school, too many around the world were still denied a quality education and a chance to reach their full potential, he said.  

“Evidence shows that even a single year of secondary school for a girl correlates with as much as a 25% increase in her future earnings, but today, millions of girls are still out of school, including 31 million primary school-aged girls,” Lake said.

“Innovation is not only about technology. It can mean embracing new ways to overcome other barriers that keep girls out of school, like improving sanitary facilities and keeping girls safe as they walk to and from school.”