Research shows that educating girls is one of the most effective ways to promote economic development for any country.

Lawrence H Summers, a renowned Economist and former President of Harvard University said, “Educating girls yields a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world.”

Likewise, Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of United Nations, said, “There is no tool for development more effective than the education of girls.

Pakistan is a country of 180 million people with 60% of the population under the age of 20. Unfortunately Pakistan also has one of the world’s largest of out-of-school populations, with only India and Nigeria larger.

The situation is worse in Pakistan’s rural areas, where nearly 50% of girls never attend school and of those that do attend, 59% quit school before reaching 5th grade.

Parents who cannot afford to send all their children to school usually send the boys and keep the girls at home. Hence, in these very rural areas of Pakistan, boys are three times more likely than girls to complete their primary education.

There are over 54 million females over the age of 15 years, who are illiterate and have never been to school at all.

Somalia suffers from many problems, both natural and inflicted by humans. Basic education and skills development of girls and women is a critical element in the economic recovery of the country.

According to UNICEF, the country had only 22% primary school enrollment in 2004, and only 9% enrollment of girls who were of primary school age. Since then, the percentage of girls enrolled appears to have fallen further.