8th March 2018—On International Women’s Day, EDUCO is reiterating its commitment to education as a fundamental tool for fighting against the discrimination and violence suffered by girls and women all over the world.
Macarena Céspedes, Head of Advocacy at EDUCO, confirms that “today women still have fewer opportunities than men and, when they do have them, it is more difficult for them to reach their goals. Every day, hundreds of girls abandon their education because their parents are unable to cover the cost of sending them to school, so they stay at home to do housework or they work outside the home to earn money for their families.
Also, it is still considered more important to send boys to school than girls, especially to secondary school. This all means there are significant gender discrimination and a violation of girls’ rights.” Céspedes adds that “in some societies, families do not allow girls to go to school because that way they can avoid them from becoming victims of sexual aggression on the way to school or in shared toilet facilities.”
They do not just become victims of child labor. Because they do not have studies or resources, many of them end up suffering other serious consequences, like human trafficking (two in three victims are girls) or child marriage. As the EDUCO Head of Advocacy explains, “organizations like the United Nations have repeatedly condemned that more than 47,000 girls are forced to marry every day. This practice puts their lives at risk, because the complications of labor and pregnancy are two of the main causes of death among girls and adolescents in the majority of developing countries.”
In order to reverse this situation, EDUCO set up the SHE grants program in 2012. The aim of this project is for girls and adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age to continue with their studies at secondary school. The program covers the financial expenses of a school year, like the enrolment, food, stationary and transport, among others. It is currently being carried out in rural areas and some of the most underprivileged neighborhoods in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, El Salvador and Guatemala. Thanks to this project, 1640 girls have been able to continue with their studies at secondary school. Specifically, 987 in Bangladesh, 235 in Burkina Faso, 292 in El Salvador and 126 in Guatemala.
