The power of investing in girls

                      

                         

                  The Power of Investing In Girls

     This decision is a major step forward to ensure that girls have the same educational opportunities as boy. This is in part to child marriage with almost 3 in 10 girls marrying before the age of 18, the prevalence of early child bearing (having a child before the age of 18), if child marriages were ended, teenage pregnancies would be substantially reduced. The resulting economics benefit girls and for the country as a whole would substantial. Keeping girls in school would lead to major reductions in the prevalence of both child marriage and child bearing.

     Providing adolescent girls with opportunities remain school is not only the right thing to do, it is also one of the smartest economic investment the country can make. According to UNESCO estimates around the world, 129 million girls are out of school, including 32million of primary school age, and 97million of secondary school age, only 49% of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education. Lack of education, child marriage and early child bearing also hurt other development outcomes, girls who marry drop out of school early are more likely to have health issues and larger family and disempowered in ways that deprive them of basic rights.

     A report by the UNICEF has predicted that Nigeria will have 29 million child brides by 2050, the report put Nigeria’s current number of child brides at 22 million, which it said represents 40% of such cases in West and Central Africa. Globally in 2021, an estimate 14 % of adolescent girls and young women give birth before age 18. Early child bearing or pregnancy and delivery during adolescent can derail girls’ otherwise healthy development into adulthood and have negative impacts on their education, livelihood and health. There is more to the future of these young girls then marriage. We know that educating girls is one of the most important ways we can empower them by helping develop their ambition and learn new skills to achieve the futures they choose. Girls are attending and completing school, fewer are getting married or becoming mothers, while fewer are gaining the skills they need to excel in the future world of work.

      Supporting education for girls and women give them a greater voice to advocate for changes in their own lives and the lives of other girls and women. They should be an awareness programme that encourages girls to remain in school and complete their education.

 Email: Oladosuadebola11@gmail.com

Oladosu Adebola the Edu feminist, climate change and human rights activist from Abuja, Nigeria 

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