EDUCATING WOMEN: THE GIRL EFFECT

The thing I have learnt most in having my two children is that no two are alike, from pregnancy, to birth, through to the child. I was blessed to be born in a country that even when I was a single mother struggling financial I was wealthier and better off than many other women in this world.

I now know that knowledge is power, and the more knowledge I have as a woman, the more powerful I am. Studies have shown that half of the reduction in child deaths in the last 20 years is the result of increases in mothers' general level of education. 4 million children are alive today because their mothers got an education.

Give a girl, a woman, a mother the correct information and sanction her to use it, and she can work miracles in the most difficult of situations.

Technology is on our side, and on the side of all uneducated girls and women. Where schools and governments and often families have failed to educate girls and women, the mobile phone, the Internet, the radio and the television can step in. As a blogger I think most take this technology for granted, not realising how lucky we are. What I wanted to do with my series on Education was to get people to stop and take a moment to think about education.

Hop over to http://www.girleffect.org/ and have a read. Show your support by liking their Facebook page and signing the petition. 

Today the Girl Effect is driven by hundreds of thousands of supporters who believe in the potential of 250 million adolescent girls living in poverty. Girleffect.org exists to help this community continue to make a powerful case for supporting girls, by equipping them to do the best work with and for girls.

WHY GIRLS?

One study has shown that an educated girl will invest 10-20 times more income back into her family and community than a man would. Girls who receive an education marry at an older age, have fewer children, and are more likely to seek healthcare for themselves and their children. Even so, nearly 250 million adolescent girls live in poverty. Today, fewer than two cents of every international development dollar goes to girls – the very people who have the capacity to make an impact on ending poverty. As long as girls remain invisible, the world misses out on a tremendous opportunity for change.

Better lives for girls mean better lives for everyone in their communities - their brothers, fathers, future husbands and sons. When you improve a girl’s life through education, health, safety and opportunity, these changes have a positive ripple effect. As an educated mother, an active, productive citizen and a prepared employee, she is the most influential force in her community to break the cycle of poverty.

Please note: Images are not mine they have been taken off The Girl Effect Website.