Efforts to bring more girls to school highlight of Int'l Day

To mark the second International Day of the Girl Child, UNICEF today highlighted the power of innovation to get more girls in schools and improve the quality of learning for all children.
Millions of girls are still out of school, including 31 million primary school aged girls who are denied quality education and a chance to reach their full potential.
According to UNICEF, evidence shows that even a single year of secondary school for a girl correlates with as much as a 25 per cent increase in her future earnings.
"Education can transform the lives of girls and strengthen their communities," said Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director, adding that, "Innovation can help us reach every girl by transforming education."

With its partners, UNICEF is exploring how technology can increase access to education for out-of-school girls and improve the quality of learning for every child.
Innovation is also helping governments and their partners to reach the hardest to reach children who are at the greatest risk of being out of school.

Unicef said innovation is not only about technology, it can mean embracing new ways to overcome other barriers that keep girls out of school, like improving sanitary facilities and keeping girls safe as they walk to and from school.
"Innovation is giving us powerful new tools to reach and teach more girls than ever before," said Lake. "To help more girls go to school, stay in school, and complete their learning, we need to keep learning ourselves, using these new tools, generating new ideas, and scaling up the most promising innovations."

The International Day of the Girl Child promotes girls' human rights, highlights gender inequalities that remain between girls and boys and addresses the various forms of discrimination and abuse suffered by girls around the world.
The United Nations General Assembly on December 19, 2011 adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognise girls' rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.