For $2951, you can give a Somali refugee girl in Ethiopia the opportunity to attend secondary school, a very rare opportunity for many refugees. The scholarship covers the costs of three years of schooling.
After two decades of conflict and violence in Somalia, hundreds of thousands of Somali citizens have fled their homes and seek refuge in neighboring countries, such as Ethiopia. There are over 170,000 refugees living in twelve camps 75% of whom are children and adolescents. Refugees in Ethiopia are not allowed to work, resulting in poverty that often means girls are unable to go to school. In many refugee camps in Ethiopia, less than 20% of girls between the ages of 12-17 are enrolled in school.
Girls need access to high-quality, safe learning environments. Girls often face social isolation and are confined to the home, making it difficult for programs to reach them. Poverty keeps girls out of school because their families cannot afford school fees, or girls are forced to help support their families by doing chores or work during the school day. In Ethiopia, Girl Up provides families with financial support to send girls to schools that provide safe spaces where girls can thrive.
Once enrolled in school, girls tend to do better than boys. An educated girl is more likely to seek health care for herself and her children, marry later, and have fewer children, which decreases her risk of dying during childbirth and increases her children's chance of survival. An extra year of elementary school boosts girls' eventual wages by 10 to 20 percent, and an extra year of secondary school adds 15 to 25 percent. Educating more girls will help break the cycle of poverty.
