Every year on October 11, the world celebrates the International Day of the Girl Child, which was put in place by the United Nations to provide global platform to advocate for the empowerment of the girl child, irrespective of the community within which she is being raised. First celebrated in 2012, this important day has over the past decade helped shine a light on the need to address challenges girls face and to promoted their empowerment and fulfilment of their human rights. One of the rights for the girl child that must be prioritized due to the multiplier effect it possesses is the right to an education, which, despite significant strides made, still requires much effort globally to be fully realized. According to available statistics, only 1 in 5 girls globally are still able to complete lower-secondary education and nearly 4 in 10 girls are not completing upper-secondary school today. The picture is grimmer in certain regions especially our own sub-Sahara. While in this day and era, the internet is a key catalyst for education, the same Unicef statistics show that around 90 per cent of adolescent girls and young women do not use the internet in low-income countries, while their male peers are twice as likely to be online. Fortunately, Rwanda is ahead of the curve within our sub-region, when it comes to completion rates at the primary and lower secondary levels. In fact, they are currently leading their male counterparts in terms of numbers of those that are most likely to complete lower secondary. However, as a stark reminder that much needs to be done to ensure girls attend school and complete on time, statistics paint a different picture in Rwanda when it comes to the number of girls who are able to complete upper secondary education. Educating a girl child is handing them a key that will unlock many opportunities and will ultimately have an impact on herself, family, community and nation at large. Again, going back to numbers, it is indicated that for every additional year of secondary education a girl receives, her potential income increases by about 10-20%. This will inevitably translate into more meaningful economic productivity, which will ultimately reduce poverty levels and generally transform communities. Most importantly is the well-established fact that education provides a safety net from several harmful outcomes in relation to health and general well-being of the girl child. This therefore justifies this year’s theme for the celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child, which is; Invest in Girls' Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-Being.
