The Power and Promise of Girls' Education - Save the Children

• Ghana was doing well with regard to girls’ education
in 1990, and did not have far to progress compared
to other developing countries. However, it has seen a
drop in primary school entrants reaching grade five.
A possible contributing factor is the large number of
refugees in Ghana from Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia.
• Burundi has a large number of internally displaced
persons in the western part of the country. It has also
experienced brutal conflict among Tutsis, Hutus and
other groups. Burundi has a large number of children
orphaned by AIDS and rapid population growth.
a severe effect on Lesotho’s educational system.
Between 1990 and 2000, the number of primary
school children entering fifth grade has dropped by
15 percent, and girls’ gross primary enrollment ratio
has increased to 125, indicating that girls are not
entering school on time or progressing at a normal
rate. Teachers are being lost to sickness and death, and
children are being orphaned at an alarming rate – with
12 percent of the country’s children having lost one or
both parents to AIDS. 47 Children orphaned by AIDS in
Lesotho are 15 percent less likely to attend school
than their counterparts who have not lost parents to
the disease. 48
• Djibouti experienced an uprising by the Afars minority
in the 1990s. The 10-year uprising ended with the
signing of a peace accord in 2001. However,
educational services continue to be strained by rapid
population growth and the presence of more than
25,000 refugees from neighboring Somalia.
• In Congo, the combination of a high death toll due
to AIDS, ethnic unrest in the late 1990s and rapid
population growth have resulted in a dramatic drop
in school enrollment.
• Eritrea was engaged in a border war with Ethiopia
and has the fifth highest population growth rate in
the world.
• In Iraq, years of conflict and international sanctions
have resulted in fewer children reaching fifth grade
and a drop in the ratio of girls to boys attending
primary school.
• Civil war in Rwanda began in 1990. In 1994, more than
800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.
Following the genocide, 2 million refugees fled the
country, though most have now returned. Rwanda also
has one of the world’s highest percentages of children
orphaned by AIDS.
• In Sudan, internal conflict since the 1980s has resulted
in 4 million internally displaced persons. Rapid
population growth combined with numerous refugees
from Chad, Eritrea and Uganda has led to declining
progress in education.
• Papua New Guinea experienced a nine-year
secessionist revolt which claimed over 20,000 lives
before ending in 1997. Rapid population growth has
also contributed to the country’s inability to make
progress in education.
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THE POWER AND PROMISE OF GIRLS’ EDUCATION