When a girl receives an education, it does more than empower her and her future—it’s a long-term investment toward entire communities.
Today, somewhere between 122 and 130 million girls are currently out of school, denied their right—or denied an opportunity—to education. Historic barriers—poverty, conflict, dangerous commutes to school, crisis and disasters—have expanded the issues girls and young women face when seeking an education, particularly in the global south.
While many of these barriers can operate regardless of gender, girls often face a disproportionate expectation to work in the home, care for siblings, and marry and have children early in life. Greater Good Charities has followed a decade-long path of partnership, collaboration, and service with a simple goal: supporting girls and young women globally.
While the solutions to education access for girls are multifaceted—proper nutrition, safe and short commutes, access to funding for tuition and uniforms—our approach remains centered on expanding the good however we can.
The need for access to education
Despite sizable improvements to education access for girls in the last twenty years—the percentage of girls out-of-school has decreased by 39%—global efforts remain nothing short of insufficient.
Almost 4 in 10 adolescent girls and young women globally do not complete secondary school. There are nearly 50 million girls today who cannot read or write a sentence. In low-income countries, 9 out of 10 young women have no internet access, while their male peers are twice as likely to be online.
Inequity like this tends to be even more prevalent in rural, poor, or marginalized communities. Studies have shown that, in South Asia, girls aged 15-19 are three times more likely than boys to not be in school, training, or employment. In Afghanistan, over a million adolescent girls and young women in grades 7-12 have found themselves completely barred from attending high school.
Taking into account gender-based violence—50 million girls alive today have experienced sexual violence—and harmful practices like child marriage—1 in 5 girls globally marry in childhood—it’s clear that exponentially more work needs to be done.
Transformation through partnership: The Safe Ride Story
At its core, the work of supporting girls around the globe is rooted in partnership. Greater Good Charities has collaborated with grassroot organizations, enabling us to locate, sponsor, and empower girls to truly tell their stories.
Greater Good Charities was approached by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Dexter Filkins in 2013. After writing an article documenting horrific acid attacks on girls walking to school in Kandahar, Afghanistan, he started a fund to operate a bus to drive these girls safely to school. He asked if Greater Good Charities could take over management of the program and its growth.
We then partnered with the Klintworth Family Foundation in 2014 to expand the program, with a goal of buying two new buses. Through their and other donor support, we expanded the Mirwais Mena Bus Project. Two buses were purchased for The Safe Ride to School Program, helping transport students safely to and from school. We operated the program until 2021, providing hundreds of thousands of safe rides.
Shamsia Hussaini was herself the victim of violence and intimidation when she attended the Mirwais Mena School for Girls as a student. In 2008, Shamsia and a group of her friends were attacked, and sprayed with acid, while walking to school.
Shamsia did more than recover—she returned to Mirwais Mena as an educator. She focused on teaching girls the value of education while showing true strength and resilience.
“[This bus] protects girls from similar attacks,” Shamsia told us. “Insecurity is a big challenge for us. We are suffering from people who dislike girls’ education, and the Safe Ride program is one of the safest ways to avoid such incidents in the future.”
Girls Voices
Starting in 2013, Greater Good Charities has supported girls in more than 100 countries around the world through the Girls’ Voices program—raising funds and support to ensure girls receive quality education, share their stories, and clarify their vision for the future.
Through this media training and literacy program, we’ve leveraged expertise in video and media development to provide over a thousand scholarships to girls seeking a better education.
More than 2,000 girls and young women—from ages 13 to 21—participated in our training and funding initiatives. Through those partnerships, over $380,000 in grants were awarded to fund education and to implement community-driven projects.
Working with educators, our support starts with building trust and partnerships within communities. These efforts led to guided storytelling curriculum delivered in the context of a safe and supportive workshop environment. Here, girls and young women did more than share their stories—they gained confidence in their skills and in themselves.
In tandem with programmatic training, Greater Good Charities’ efforts expanded to partnerships with donors to provide girls with primary, secondary, or post-secondary education grants. Receiving these scholarships provided girls with the power to continue their education, while functioning as a larger investment in the safety and health of their communities.
This support was in part informed by access to online communities, where students could receive photography and videography courses, webinars that connect participants and alumni, and submit prompts and projects to contests.
See an example of a Girls’ Voices training summit below:
Girls Voices for Change
In 2017, we launched the Girls’ Voices for Change Contest to showcase the endless creativity and meaningful training students receive while raising scholarship funding. Thousands of submissions and voters have engaged with the program over the years, generating thousands of dollars in scholarships to video contest finalists pursuing further education.
The contest’s very first winner, Puja, was only 16 when she received over 2,000 first-place votes for her submission, The Beginning. Utilizing a form of storytelling that is linear, intuitive, and hyperrealist, Puja conveys a narrative that is familiar for too many girls—in Puja’s home of Calcutta, India, and across the world.
The Beginning follows one family’s trajectory and the power of education to influence and heal. As the family’s father struggles with substance abuse and violent outbursts, The Beginning shows the subtle—and sometimes not-so-subtle—ways in which family, friends, and a larger culture can empower girls and young women to continue their education.
With a runtime of scarcely three minutes, Puja manages to deftly convey the inequity girls often face in the division of household labor and responsibility, as well as the degree of power and influence that family leaders and educational mentors have on a child’s education. While videos like Puja’s provide girls with an incredible outlet for artistic expression and critical thought, they also serve as a point of opportunity: for girls to train their skills, build their confidence, and have their voice heard in a language that is universal.
A commitment to the future
At Greater Good Charities, we believe that when we encourage and support girls and young women to pursue their own path in education, we’re helping to change more than just their lives. Studies have shown that when women receive higher education and higher earnings, they consistently reinvest in their communities.
As we celebrate a legacy of empowering girls and young women to further their education, we are committed to continuing the fight to educate girls and strengthen communities for the next twenty years.