Girls’ Education is the Key

How do you end global poverty? If you ask 10 people this question you’ll probably get 10 completely different answers. There are many approaches and various solutions that contribute to that goal. Yet Girl Rising believes that one answer is the key that unlocks multiple benefits.

A mountain of evidence shows that educating girls is the single best way to end global poverty. Getting girls into school and keeping them there through at least secondary school has an incredible ripple effect and improves the lives of their families, their communities, and their societies. Educating girls increases economic prosperity, health, and peace and security. These benefits span generations.

Yet, according to the Girl Rising website, “millions of girls are missing from classrooms, facing barriers that boys don’t: early marriage, an unequal burden of household work, sex trafficking,       gender-based violence, and discrimination that devalues their education and participation in society.”

From Film Company to Nonprofit

Christina Lowery (now CEO of Girl Rising) started Girl Rising with colleagues to address the question of ending poverty.  When they learned about the huge impact of educating girls, they created a documentary film to change minds, change lives, and change policy. The film featured nine girls from different countries who were wrestling with various barriers to education. “These nine individual stories added up to a global story of what it’s like to grow up as a girl,” said Christina.

The film Girl Rising came out in 2013, along with a global action campaign. There was an incredible demand for story-based tools beyond the film. The team created educational resources and international programming to accompany the film. They collaborated with other organizations, created curricula, adapted the film to local settings, and made related films. The impact they witnessed  led them to  transform Girl Rising from a film company into a U.S.-based nonprofit organization.

Read the full article about Girl Rising by Tyler LePard at Global Washington.