This post by Meagan Neal, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), is the third post in a blog series on overcoming barriers to girls’ education, based on J-PAL’s new Bulletin on improving student enrollment and attendance. Read the first post summarizing these barriers here and learn more about the first-order barrier of travel time here.
In 2003 in western Kenya, a school uniform cost $6. This might seem like a small cost—but for poor families, it was a substantial out-of-pocket expense. Meanwhile,...
Girls and Women
130 million girls didn’t go to school today— not because they didn’t want to, but because they weren’t given the chance.
There are dire consequences to not educating girls. In many countries, girls out of school will be more likely to become child brides, more vulnerable to diseases like HIV, and more likely to die young. For example, if current trends in education continue, by 2050, this is the future we’re looking at: Low-income countries alone will lose $1.8 trillion;...
Nowhere on earth do women have as many opportunities as men. Nowhere. But for girls and women in the poorest countries, that inequality is amplified. Right now, there are over 130 million girls around the world being denied an education — and thus the chance to reach their full potential.
Educate a girl in one of the world’s poorest countries, and it boosts her health, wealth, and ability to take control of her life. She’s less likely to become a...
Educating girls can change the world.
Girls who get a complete, quality education are more likely to be healthier and better prepared to enter and succeed in the workforce. Education can give girls more opportunities to advocate for their own rights, contribute to their families and communities, and grow local and global economies.
But over 130 million girls didn’t go to school today. Millions more braved long distances, often in dangerous conditions, to get there. Other girls arrived at school to...
This post by Meagan Neal, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), is the second post in a blog series on overcoming barriers to girls’ education, based on J-PAL’s new synthesis of the evidence on improving student enrollment and attendance. Read the first post summarizing these barriers here.
In 2007, Afghanistan’s rural province of Ghor faced low primary school enrollment and a dramatic gender gap: Only 35 percent of boys and 18 percent of girls were attending school. School...
Story and photos by Ray Mwareya.
Expensive maternity fees in Zimbabwe are a nightmare for pregnant women. In state or church clinics, where the majority of the poor give birth, charges can rise to $50 USD per month until delivery, according to Chido Gama of the Zimbabwe Health Human Rights Forum, a local lobby network that monitors the rights of disadvantaged expectant mothers.
But organizations like the United Nations Population Fund — with support from foreign assistance provided by countries around the...
By Rachel Glennerster, Executive Director, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
I’ve worked for more than 13 years in rural Sierra Leone. In this time, I have watched a quiet revolution take place: education has become the norm. Few of the adults in the communities in which I work ever saw the inside of a school, yet nearly all of their children are enrolled in school.
This is a remarkable transformation in the space of one generation, and Sierra Leone...
Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than half of its 17 million people living on less than $1.25 USD a day. For the past five years, Mali has experienced a multi-dimensional political and humanitarian crisis, driven in part by internal conflict and terrorism. Mali’s food security has been rocked in recent years by recurring disasters, including erratic rainfall, drought, and a military coup that triggered a political and security crisis. Although peace negotiations were...
Story and photos by Ray Mwareya
Nancy Chandala, 13, sits in a classroom at Joel Community School in rural Zambia, fixated on a small computer screen.
“I wish all my textbooks were loaded on the tablet,” she says. “I would read even when out in the maize fields at home. No carrying of heavy books.”
Students at Joel Community School in rural Zambia.
Nancy is one of more than 2,000 children from rural areas who are benefiting from eSchool 360, an innovative new...
By Imogen Calderwood, Street Child
For many families in Sierra Leone, education is out of reach for one reason: poverty.
Thousands of children are kept out of school simply because their parents don’t earn enough money so, instead of going to school, these young children have to generate income – often in dangerous work environments out on the streets.
This tragic pattern, unless broken, has the potential to repeat itself endlessly and trap families in poverty for generations.
But with a small helping...