Advancing equality for women and girls is crucial to USAID. Their initiative - USAID's education strategy seeks to promote inclusive education. Here’s how the agency supports access to education and quality of learning.
Malawi: In Malawi, where only 16 percent of girls complete primary school, USAID and the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) are working with the Ministry of Education and local schools to improve girls' literacy levels, promote healthcare that can help them lead happy and productive lives, and remove barriers so that girls can be in school.
Democratic Republic of the Congo: In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a third of children are not in primary school and where sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war, a USAID-funded project is providing adolescent girls with the skills to become positive change agents in their communities.
Also, USAID’s Empowering Adolescent Girls to Lead through Education program (EAGLE) is empowering 1,660 adolescent girls to play an active role within their schools, families and communities. This has improved school completion and led to a better understanding about adolescent reproductive health, gender-based violence prevention, and gender equality.
Ethiopia: USAID helped Ethiopia achieve 95% enrollment in primary school over the past 15 years. Since 2006, the program has helped send over 375,000 school-aged children to schools in Somalia. In addition, they are supporting education programs in 18 African countries.
Of course, there is a lot more that can be done, but what is being done is a good start. With more awareness about the prevailing issues that prohibit girl’s access to education, people will begin to wake up and draw more attention to the need for solutions.
