More than 130 million girls worldwide are out of school. The reasons are many. Barriers to girls’ education – like poverty, child marriage and gender-based violence – vary among countries and communities. Poor families often favour boys when investing in education. War and violence drastically reduce opportunities for girls to continue their education. In areas of conflict, girls and women are the most vulnerable. Girls are 90 per cent more likely to be out of secondary school than those living in areas without violence.
3.9 BILLION
Most of the 3.9 billion people who are offline are in rural areas, poorer, less educated and tend to be women and girls.
DECREASE BY 49%
Uneducated girls are more susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases, early pregnancy and other health complications. If all girls received 12 years of education, the frequency of early births would drop by 59% and child deaths would decrease by 49%.