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Welcome to the archives of News Deeply’s Women & Girls Hub. While we paused regular publication of the site on January 22, 2018, and transitioned our coverage to Women’s Advancement Deeply, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on the Arctic. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors contributors.
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In Niger, where 75 percent of girls are married by 18, families often consider their schooling unnecessary. To help some of these girls improve their future prospects, Mercy Corps’ SAFE Schools program combines intensive remedial education with family support.
Jessica Archibold Maxwell Program Officer, International Nonprofit WaterAid in Nicaragua
In Nicaragua, where over 2 million people have no access to adequate sanitation, improving girls’ education means giving them somewhere to take care of their basic daily hygiene needs, says Jessica Archibold Maxwell, program officer for WaterAid.
A fast-track learning program in India is being scaled up to help 3 million young girls across developing countries stay in school. Udaan, a residential school for students aged 11-14, helps girls study instead of work or marry.
On Monday, Michelle Obama visited Liberia to push for girls’ education in one of the world’s most underdeveloped countries. Some of the girls she met say the visit has convinced them to stay in school.
After spending five years with the students of a revolutionary girls’ boarding school in Paraguay, documentary filmmaker Samantha Grant says this model for education can change lives as it protects the forest.
Bringing together underprivileged adolescents on the soccer field, Yuwa co-founder Franz Gastler gives the girls of rural Jharkhand a chance to get an education and avoid a future of early marriage and inequality.
Sarah Brown President of Theirworld
For countries taking in Syrian refugees, aid focuses on food, shelter and healthcare. But to ensure a better future for Syria, children’s education should also be a priority, says Theirworld president Sarah Brown.
The young women inside Brazil’s Occupy High School movement, which is demanding resources for failing state schools, say the country’s growing feminist movement made it possible for them to take a leading role in the protests.
During Sierra Leone’s Ebola crisis, thousands of girls became pregnant, some as young as nine. Communities report that there were increases in rape and in girls offering sex for money or services because of poverty bought about by the outbreak.
Yvonne Chaka Chaka
Yvonne Chaka Chaka, a well-known South African musician who is goodwill ambassador for the Princess of Africa Foundation, argues that a school toilet and a place to clean up are essential to prevent girls dropping out of school in developing countries.
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