We need more girls-focused financing

Grants from the Girls’ Education Accelerator have incentivized countries to look not only at what causes educational disadvantages that girls face, but also at mainstreaming gender equality across the entire education sector.

There is now a large pipeline of countries eligible for and interested in accessing the Girls’ Education Accelerator, including Nigeria and Pakistan which have among the highest numbers of child marriages in the world, but insufficient funds to address their ambitions.

The Accelerator’s over-subscription demonstrates there is momentum for girls’ education through clear demand for and commitment to this type of mechanism by our partner countries.

This commitment needs to be met with resources, or we risk failing to support interventions with the potential to address the root causes of why thousands of girls from the world’s most marginalized communities are not accessing the life-changing benefits of quality education.

By investing in girls’ education to create safe and inclusive learning environments, we can build a path to growing economies and ensuring every girl has the opportunity to reach her full potential.

We must continue the collective effort to resource transformative efforts in education towards gender equality, and it is crucial that all kinds of partners join in.