The importance of educating girls and women: the fight against poverty in African rural communities.

• Author: Cotton, Ann

The Millennium Declaration, adopted by world leaders in 2000, set ambitious goals and targets to be achieved by 2015. At the end of 2007, just past the midpoint of this process, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) seem almost as elusive as they were in 2000. (1) This is particularly true for the second and third Goals, which aim to "achieve universal primary education" and "promote gender equality and empower women", respectively. Yet it is vital that the momentum for change not stall or stop, especially since the basic human rights of millions of children depend on the international community to keep the promises made.

For over a decade, education for girls has been identified as one of the best solutions to reversing the relentless trend of poverty and disease devastating large portions of sub-Saharan Africa. Not only does ensuring access to education for girls directly improve the feasibility of MDGs 2 and 3, it also has a positive impact on the other six Goals. Camfed's almost 15 years of experience has demonstrated the direct and indirect benefits of educating girls and young women: reduction of rural poverty (MDG 1), improved maternal health (MDG 5) and lower incidences of HIV/AIDS (MDG 6) are but some of the positive outcomes when a girl is educated.

Recent studies corroborate what Camfed has observed and fostered on the ground: girls who complete primary and secondary education tend to marry later, have smaller families and earn significantly higher wages. (2) Girls' education has been posited as a "vaccine" against HIV/AIDS, with comparative analysis of data from Zambia, for example, of non-educated and educated women showing a substantial difference in infection rates. (3) Educating a girl changes her destiny, as well as those of her future children, and ensures that she can contribute to the economic life of her community.

Girls in rural areas of Africa are excluded from education not because of cultural resistance or unwillingness, but because of poverty--the main barrier to girls' education. Progress towards universal primary education has been made, especially after national Governments abolished school fees and increased expenditure; but there are still 24.4 million girls out of school in sub-Saharan Africa. (4) In 2005, the total net enrolment ratio of girls in primary education was only 66 per cent, and an even lower 24 per cent for secondary education. (5) Given the high percentage of girls excluded from education, the...