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As students around the world prepare to head back to school, millions of girls risk being left behind. As students around the world prepare to head back to school, millions of girls risk being left behind.
Girls need UNICEF's help to return to school, to stay in school and to keep thriving every day.
- At its peak, the COVID-19 pandemic forced 1.6 billion children out of school, threatening learning loss and development setbacks for an entire generation — and jeopardizing girls' futures most of all.
- It’s estimated that more than 10 million girls who left school temporarily during COVID-19 lockdowns may never return. Girls ages 12 to 17 are at particular risk of dropping out of school for good — and suffering layered and lasting harms as a result.
- Girls ages 10 to 14 spend roughly 50 percent more time than boys doing household chores like caring for younger siblings, feeding livestock and fetching water — responsibilities that can interfere with schooling.
- When families are pushed deeper into poverty, the pressures on girls to go to work or to marry increase; without the daily structure and safety that schools provide, their risks of suffering exploitation and abuse multiply.
- In Afghanistan, access to education has long been a challenge for girls. Cultural practices, displacement and other barriers persist.
- Thousands of schools in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed by war. Millions of school-age children who have been displaced by the conflict face lifelong education losses.
Girls who complete secondary school are more likely to escape poverty and to see their own children survive and thrive. Advocate on their behalf: urge Congress to address the barriers that keep girls from accessing a quality education, by supporting the bipartisan Keeping Girls in School Act.
Advocate on behalf of girls — urge Congress to support the bipartisan Keeping Girls in School Act.
Why donate to UNICEF? It's a smart way to make your money go further for children:UNICEF makes your online donations go further for children
- UNICEF supports education in emergencies: UNICEF and partners have reached hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children displaced by the war in Ukraine with learning support, providing formal and informal education opportunities and supporting efforts by refugee host countries to integrate Ukrainian children into local schools.
- UNICEF is working relentlessly to get girls back to school: After pandemic pauses, together with partners, UNICEF is helping countries build back stronger educational systems that address girls’ needs and bolster their progress. That means helping nations overcome setbacks in learning, supporting teachers with cash incentives and training and defending girls’ basic right to education in places like Afghanistan.
- UNICEF works nonstop to protect girls' rights: Helping girls access their basic right to learn means relentlessly supporting local programs that remove major obstacles, such as child marriage and child labor; improving access to safe water to ease the water burden; and improving sanitation and hygiene facilities in schools to facilitate attendance during girls' menstrual periods.
- UNICEF provides essential learning supplies: Books, backpacks, desks and other basics are needed to help more children — and more girls — afford and complete their education. UNICEF supplies tens of millions of children with learning materials every year.
- UNICEF levels the playing field: UNICEF's humanitarian cash assistance programs benefit millions of households, helping families cover basic needs and easing economic pressures that can force children to go to work — not school.
- UNICEF supports digital learning: Working with governments and other partners, UNICEF is working to close the greater digital divide girls face — ensuring their equal access to online education and other digital tools within their household or community.
- UNICEF supports education in emergencies, maintaining safe learning environments for children in Ukraine and other conflict-affected areas.
- UNICEF is helping countries build back stronger educational systems that address girls’ needs and bolster their progress.
- UNICEF's water and sanitation interventions, among other programs with local partners, effectively eliminate many of the barriers to education that girls face.
- UNICEF supplies tens of millions of children with essential items like books, backpacks and desks to support their learning every year.
- UNICEF cash assistance for families eases pressures that can force children to go to work instead of school.
- UNICEF prioritizes the education of children with disabilities.
Meet the UNICEF workers helping kids around the world
UNICEF: saving and changing lives
Thirteen-year-old Nanyonjo attended primary school in Eastern Uganda before COVID-19 lockdowns forced her to start listening to her math, science and English lessons on the radio. But thanks to an educational technology system UNICEF installed at her school, Nanyonjo has taken her education into her own hands.
Thirteen-year-old Nanyonjo attended primary school in Eastern Uganda before COVID-19 lockdowns forced her to start listening to her math, science and English lessons on the radio. But thanks to an educational technology system UNICEF installed at her school, Nanyonjo has taken her education into her own hands.