Every year in sub-Saharan Africa up to four million teenage girls drop out of school because of pregnancy. In Niger, only one in 100 girls will finish secondary school. Just one additional year of education can increase a girl’s future earnings by up to 20 percent and we ought to be doing everything we can to make that happen. Education brings with it opportunities for women’s financial independence, another prerequisite for gender equality. When a woman has control over her own fertility, it can break the cycle of poverty and transform her life, her family and the world. Women’s equal participation in the economy has the potential of boosting global gross domestic product (GDP) by $28 trillion.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA