Breaking the Cycle of Gender Inequality: It Starts With Education

Gender inequality remains a problem in developing countries as women are denied the tools to free themselves from poverty. In extreme cases, women are largely considered the property of men. They work on land they don’t own and cannot travel alone. The problems are cyclical.

Here are the facts:

– Two out of three illiterate people are women. Without an education, many women cannot support themselves and as a result they end up marrying young.
– One in seven women in developing countries gets married before the age of 15.
– A quarter to one half of girls in developing countries become mothers before their 18th birthdays.
– 60 percent of the world’s hungry are women. Many women deny themselves food so they can feed their own children.

But there is hope. buildOn is empowering women in developing countries by making them part of the change that will free them and their children from poverty. Before buildOn breaks ground on schools, villagers sign a covenant that ensures women are a part of the school’s Leadership Committee. The covenant promises that at least fifty percent of the students attending the school are girls – girls such as Ruth Tanthem.

Ruth was one of the first generation of girls to attend a buildOn school in Malawi – and now that she’s empowered by education, she’s lifting her family and community out of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations. Read her inspirational story and donate to the Breaking the Cycle campaign.

With your support, buildOn’s Breaking the Cycle campaign will fund an afterschool program at one of the nation’s toughest high schools and build a new school in Malawi, where there is a desperate need for education.

Education is the key:

– 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty if all students in all low-income countries left school with basic reading skills, cutting 12 percent of world poverty.
– Women who have a secondary education in Sub-Saharan Africa are four times likely to employ family planning than women with no education.
– Each additional year of primary school will add 10 to 20 percent to a student’s future earnings.

Be the catalyst for change in people’s lives and their world. Help change the world by educating children, parents and grandparents. Make a donation to our Breaking the Cycle campaign today! #itstartshere