Girls’ Education Challenge Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateBaroness Kinnock of Holyhead
Main Page: Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead's debates with the Department for International Development
(10 years, 7 months ago)
Lords ChamberI congratulate my noble friend on her first Question in the House. She is absolutely right: educating girls is one of the best investments to reduce poverty. As many noble Lords know, educating beyond primary level, which is what she is flagging here, improves a girl’s life chances and delays early motherhood so that she is more likely to have healthy, better nourished children. In fact, ensuring that girls have between seven and 10 years’ education has a decisive influence over whether they can choose whom they marry. The Girls’ Education Challenge is concentrating particularly on supporting girls to progress through secondary school. My noble friend is absolutely right: ensuring that girls are safe on their way to school and at school is extremely important, but this is being addressed.
My Lords, does the Minister share my concern that DfID’s business case for the Girls’ Education Challenge fund actually fails to list tackling violence against girls as one of its critical success criteria? Given that millions of girls are sexually assaulted at or on their way to school, does she agree that tackling gender-based violence and the need for social norm change should be priorities and should surely be included in the interventions currently taking place under the GEC fund?
The noble Baroness is right that combating violence against girls, as I have just addressed, is extremely important. It is no use trying to encourage girls to come to school if, on the way, they are attacked or will be attacked within the school. As the noble Baroness knows, dealing with this is a high priority right across DfID’s work, including in its education programmes.