International
Day of the Girl Child on 11^th October, focuses on the rights of girls
and the challenges they face globally. This year’s theme is "Innovating for
Girls’ Education".

World attention has been focussed on the 33 million girls not at school
by the campaigning of inspirational Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, shot
by the Taliban for speaking out for her right to education.  Millennium Development Goal 2 aimed to ensure
that by 2015, all children, should be able to complete a full course of primary
schooling. But despite significant progress, many children worldwide are still
denied this basic right and girls are particularly likely to miss out due to
deeply-rooted gender-stereotypes and discrimination.

The UN’s
2013 Millennium Development Goals Report showed that in 63 developing countries, girls were more likely to be
out of school than boys among both primary and lower secondary age groups. The
gender gap in school attendance widens in lower secondary education, even for
girls living in better-off households.

There is substantial evidence showing that girls’ education transforms
societies, as well as the lives of girls themselves.  Girls who have been to school are likely to
be healthier and earn more. They marry and have children later, and their
children are more likely to survive and be healthier.

Girls may be prevented from accessing education due to financial,
safety-related and cultural barriers. This year’s theme for International Day
of the Girl Child focusses ways to remove these barriers through technological
advances. Technology will enhance educational standards, but also increase
wider access to those that may have difficulties in attending educational
institutions, particularly in remote areas. Read more on in  Innovate 2 Educate: Breaking down barriers to girls’ education. UN Rep Paulette Forbes-Igharo’s report from an UNESCO event for International Day of the Girl.

Education for girls worldwide is
at the heart of what Soroptimists stand for; many projects worldwide focus on
increasing access to formal and non-formal learning opportunities for girls. Here are some examples.

 

In Kenya, girls
were missing up to three days per month of school at the time of their periods
because of a lack of sanitary towels; this reflected on their class performance
and self-esteem. SI
Mumias, with support from the Soroptimist
Union of Denmark, went
into a local school to speak to girls about their physical development,
menstrual cycle and personal hygiene, distributed sanitary towels donated by
corporate sponsor International Partnership Systems, and discussed alternatives
to sanitary towels where these are not available.  Teachers reported that
this has had a beneficial impact on the girls school attendance and
self-confidence.

The newly chartered SI Meru, also in Kenya,
has found a different solution to the same problem: making re-usable washable,
sanitary pads for school girls. The room and sewing machine were donated by a
member, local women are paid to do the sewing and the pads, liners and carry
cases are donated to girls at primary schools in rural locations where there is
no money (or access) for disposables. The pads have proved so popular that the
club is going to teach women in the rural villages to make them so they can
have another source of income. 

Raising girls’
self-confidence and encouraging them to aim high is also key to ensuring that
they achieve their best at school. SI
Rim of the World (USA) sponsor
monthly meetings for girls attending a local middle school dealing with body
image, bullying, Internet Safety, etiquette, healthy eating and physical
activities. The project aims to increase girl’s social skills and
self-awareness by demonstrating that they are valuable to their school and
community; this in turn will help them to achieve their best at school. 

 

SI Hafnarfjordur and Gardabaer (Iceland) ran a programme to help socially
and economically disadvantaged girls
and young women “Discover their X-factor”. They organised
seminars at local colleges to help them identify their strengths and learn how
to express these with confidence; the aim is to develop a sense of self-worth
and encourage these girls and young women to set high goals for themselves.

SI Pune Metro East (India) launched a series of classes in a number of
schools to educate girls about gender equality, enhance self-confidence and
boost self-esteem within their educational environment, while SI Kolkata’s Hold My Hand project
provides an academic boost to children from underprivileged backgrounds, often
first generation students who do not get help at home, offering classes are in English and Maths from 4pm to 6pm with
professional teachers.

SI Targoviste (Romania) have supported girls from lower economic
backgrounds with financial and technological support. Four girls received
school materials. One of the girls was given a laptop, another girl received
enough money to cover her daily bus fare and the other two girls were enrolled
on extracurricular computer courses, paid for by SI Targoviste. SI Hamilton, SI Dunfermline and other
UK clubs took part in ‘The Backpack Project’, a charitable donation scheme to
help children from poor families in Malawi and Liberia get to school. Backpacks
are filled with educational materials.

 

SI Joondalup (Australia) funded the building of a dormitory to be
attached to Hatolia School in East Timor. The dormitory will allow easier
access to school for those that are faced with distance, rivers flooding and
dense jungle. SI Moreton North Inc
(Australia) have been supporting the Australian Literacy
and Numeracy Fund in working to improve educational standards among indigenous children in Australia, whose literacy rates fall well below the national average. 

Education remains an integral part of what
Soroptimist International stands for and a key programme focus objective.
Soroptimists continue to ‘increase
access to formal and non-formal learning opportunities’ worldwide.

Read
more about recent
Soroptimist advocacy for education.

Images (top to bottom) – SI Bangalore (India) Climate Week school activities; SI Mumias (Kenya) providing sanitary towels and advice to girls to prevent missing school during monthly periods; SI Hafnarfjordur and Gardabaer (Iceland) "Discover your X-Factor" participants;  SI Kolkata (India)  "Hold My Hand" project; SI Targoviste (Romania) provide a laptop to help girl with studies.