Educating girls and women is critical for individual, community, and national well-being and opportunity. Context matters here, as cultural and systemic norms impeding women’s and girls’ education, as well as delivery models, need to be understood and addressed with relation to a specific community or household.

Desired Equilibrium

All opportunities for girls and women in society are equal, starting with equitable access to a quality education from birth through primary school, secondary school, and into the economic opportunities of adulthood. Every girl and woman has the right to a childhood, lives without fear of violence, and has the freedom to choose whom she marries and when to start a family.

Ways Skoll social entrepreneurs are addressing the issue:

• Filling gaps in the educational infrastructure (e.g. lack of female teachers, transportation) to ensure girls’ enrollment and retention while improving classroom learning (Afghan Institute of Learning, Camfed, Educate Girls, Room to Read, The Citizens Foundation)
• Equipping girls and women with skill-based knowledge that is both economically and socially empowering (Arzu, Barefoot College, Camfed, Fundacion Capital, Landesa, mothers2mothers, Root Capital, Saudé Criança)
• Engaging local communities to establish norms that value and recognize the rights of all women and girls (Camfed, Educate Girls, Girls Not Brides, Tostan)
• Strengthening education governance through training and support to teachers, administrators, and school systems (Educate Girls, Girls Not Brides)