Securing quality education for girls and young women is a key challenge of the Millennium Development
Goals, which aim to eliminate gender disparity at all
levels of education by 2015 as part of efforts to promote gender equality and empower women (MDG 3).

Although considerable progress has been made in reaching gender parity
in primary education, gaps have closed less rapidly in secondary education. Globally, the female net secondary school attendance rate is 44 per cent.

Research has long confirmed the merits of education not only for women and girls, but also for families and societies. Studies show that
educated adolescents are more likely to wait until they are out of their teenage years – when pregnancy risks are highest – before starting a
family, and are also likely to have healthier babies.