Girls account for 38% of Nigeria’s out-of-school children. Major barriers such as child marriage, poverty and gender discrimination prevent girls from learning.
In northern Nigeria, long-held cultural beliefs fuel gender discrimination and limit girls’ ability to reach their full potential. Additionally families don’t see the value of sending their daughters to school where they receive low-quality education. Families will often choose to marry off their daughters instead of continuing their education.
Malala Fund works to dismantle the barriers that prevent girls from accessing and completing secondary and senior education in Nigeria. Our partner organisations work across nine states and the Federal Capital Territory where girls face the biggest challenges in going to school. These challenges include cultural and religious beliefs that uphold traditional gender roles, limited economic resources, security risks from conflict and a lack of facilities for girls to properly manage their menstrual hygiene.
Our partners advocate for 12 years of free, safe, quality education under the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act. We work with them on four key areas:
Strengthening policies to ensure education is safe and gender-responsive.
Expanding free, safe, quality education to the senior secondary level.
Fostering a supportive environment for girls to access and complete 12 years of education.
Investing in education and improving the implementation and oversight of education budgets to increase the number of girls going to and staying in school.
Malala Fund believes that achieving progress requires action at multiple levels — sub-national, national and global — to achieve lasting impact for girls’ education.
“Without education, we cannot achieve good health, a prosperous economy or safe communities. Investing in education — and girls’ education in particular — is key for every country in Africa.”
— Habiba Mohammed, Co-director, Centre for Girls’ Education
60%
There are 3.7 million out-of-school children in Afghanistan — 60% are girls. (UNICEF)
42%
Most girls in rural Bangladesh dropout of school after primary school, with dropout rates at nearly 42 percent. (UNICEF)
