Education is an essential rung on the ladder that lifts those in need out of poverty. And
education for women is especially important. There is an old Ghanian saying, “If
you educate a man you simply educate an individual, but if you educate a woman,
you educate a nation.”

The facts are startling:
Two thirds of the world’s 879 million illiterate adults are  women. In nearly every developing nation, girls’ education and school attendance trails dramatically behind boys’. Eliminating this disparity is essential to eradicating poverty for women and enabling them to fully  participate in all aspects of life. It is essential to breaking the cycle of  generational poverty and despair for all people. Statistics show that children of mothers who have not received an education are more than two times as likely  to be malnourished as children of mothers who went to high school.

Choosing who goes to school:
When parents make decisions about which child will attend school, most often it is the girl who is denied an education. When money is limited, it is almost always the boy child who receives the funds for school fees, uniforms and books. Furthermore, parents are reluctant to send girls to school for fear their daughters will be vulnerable to sexual attack at school  or on the way.

Where are the young girls who are not in school?
They’re at home doing chores or caring for the sick or other children in their family. They have been forced into early marriages, or tricked or sold into prostitution. As a result, many otherwise bright but needy girls fall by the wayside without hope of ever getting an education.

The difference an education makes:
When a girl is educated, her income-earning potential increases, maternal and infant mortality is reduced and her overall reproductive health improves. She marries later and postpones childbearing until her body is adequately developed. She is more likely to acquire skills to improve the economic prospects for herself and her family. She is more likely to protect  her daughters from harmful traditional practices and early marriage, and insist that they too receive  an education. And education for girls is associated with lower rates of HIV.

Women’s Enterprises’ Response
With this in mind, Women’s Enterprises has made education for all children, but especially for girls, one of its primary goals.