When girls face barriers to education early on, it is difficult for them to recover.

Child marriage
is one of the most common reasons a girl might stop going to school. More than 650
million women globally have already married under the age of 18. For families experiencing
financial hardship, child marriage reduces their economic burden, but it ends up being more
difficult for girls to gain financial independence if they are unable to access a quality education.
A girl at Ayno Meena Number Two school in the city of Kandahar, Afghanistan, which was built
in late 2008 with support from the World Bank. GPE/Jawad Jalali

Lack of access to adequate menstrual hygiene management also stops many girls from attending
school. Some girls cannot afford to buy sanitary products or they do not have access to clean
water and sanitation to clean themselves and prevent disease. If safety is a concern due to lack of
separate bathrooms, girls will stay home from school to avoid putting themselves at risk of
sexual assault or harassment. 
Read More: 10 Barriers to Education Around the World
An educated girl is not only likely to increase her personal earning potential but can help reduce
poverty in her community, too. 
“Educated girls have fewer, healthier, and better-educated children,” according to the Global
Partnership for Education.
When countries invest in girls’ education, it sees an increase in female leaders, lower levels of
population growth, and a reduction of contributions to climate change. 
Can education help break the cycle of poverty? 
Education promotes economic growth because it provides skills that increase employment
opportunities and income. Nearly 60 million people could escape poverty if all adults had just
two more years of schooling, and 420 million people could be lifted out of poverty if all adults
completed secondary education, according to UNESCO. 
Education increases earnings by roughly 10% per each additional year of schooling. For each $1
invested in an additional year of schooling, earnings increase by $5 in low-income countries and
$2.5 in lower-middle income countries. 
Read More: 264 Million Children Are Denied Access To Education, New Report Says
Education reduces many issues that stop people from living healthy lives, including infant and
maternal deaths, stunting, infant and maternal deaths, vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, and violence.
UNFPA / Flickr

How can we end extreme poverty through education?

There are more children enrolled in school than ever before — developing countries reached a
91% enrollment rate in 2015 — but we must fully close the gap. 
World leaders gathered at the United Nations headquarters to address the disparity in 2015 and
set 17 Global Goals to end extreme poverty by 2030. Global Goal 4: Quality Education aims to
"end poverty in all its forms everywhere."
Read More: How We Can Be the Generation to End Extreme Poverty
The first step to achieving quality education for all is acknowledging that it is a vital part of
sustainable development. Citizens, governments, corporations, and philanthropists all have an
important role to play. Learn how to ensure global access to education to end poverty by taking
action here.
TOPICSPovertyEducationGirls EducationExplainerEconomic Development

COMMENTS  
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Classroom in Madagascar.
GPE/ Carine Durand / Flickr

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