From FGM to child marriage, we must remove all the barriers to girls’ education

From FGM to child marriage, we must remove all the barriers to girls’ education

There is a Swahili proverb, that if you educate a girl, you educate a nation. Kenya and the UK are united in that belief: girls' education can change the world . It reduces poverty, strengthens societies and boosts economies. It has a radical effect on community health. A child whose mother can read is 50 per cent more likely to live beyond the age of five, 50 per cent more likely to be immunised, and twice as likely to attend school. A single percentage point increase in girls' education creates a 0.2 per cent boost to that country's annual GDP growth. That's why we are championing the global targets to get 40 million more girls into 12 years of quality education and 20 million more reading by age 10 over the next five years. Those targets were endorsed by the G7 under the UK's G7 Presidency in Cornwall last month. The UK and Kenya are like-minded partners and dedicated to this cause. Between 2015 and 2020, the UK supported over eight million girls into education around the world, working with the Global Partnership for Education as the biggest global fund focused solely on this issue. The Government of Kenya has