Girls' Education

Educating girls and women drives employment and reduces poverty. The World Bank supports strong, fair, and accessible education systems to ensure everyone has the chance to learn and develop skills needed for productive life.

The Bank works to eliminate barriers preventing girls and women accessing education and training needed for a path out of poverty. The World Bank’s Gender Equality Strategy 2023-2030, discusses education interventions to address these barriers, including ensuring girls' safety in learning environments, and providing relevant job training to support community and economic contributions.

Investing in girls' education also creates a more prosperous and equitable future for all. Economies benefit when all individuals of working age take part in the labor market, leading to improved lives, self-sustaining communities, economic growth, and global stability.

A 2018 World Bank study estimated that the “limited educational opportunities for girls, and barriers to completing 12 years of education, cost countries between $15 trillion and $30 trillion in lost lifetime productivity and earnings.” All these factors combined can help lift households, communities, and countries out of poverty. According to the World Bank's report, Pathways to Prosperity for Adolescent Girls in Africa, adopting improvements in girls' education could potentially generate an extra $2.4 trillion in income for African nations by 2040.

The World Bank is committed to empowering and equipping girls and young women with skills needed to thrive in education, work, and life. Our lending operations, grants, and analytical work support the education of hundreds of millions of girls and young women globally especially in low-, lower-middle-, and upper-middle-income countries. These projects are typically multisectoral, involving partners from health, digital, water, and other departments to provide holistic solutions, optimize resources, foster innovation, and achieve resilient outcomes.

Guided by the lifecycle approach, we strive to ensure girls have safe and inclusive experiences with education systems that set them up for success in life and motivate them to become lifelong learners. Our projects prioritize investments at distinct stages of the life cycle in four key areas:

removing barriers to girls’ schooling

promoting safe and inclusive schools

improving the quality of education for all

developing skills for life and labor market success

As of June 2024, 146.1 million girls and young women from 78 countries have benefited from World Bank education projects. Millions more will benefit in the next few decades as the World Bank works to implement its Gender Strategy and scale its impact. We address critical barriers that prevent girls and young women from accessing education and skills needed for them to participate in the labor market by drawing on evidence-based interventions that have demonstrated success in promoting girls' education.

Developing skills and empowering girls for life and labor market success

Tertiary education is instrumental in developing skills and preparing young people for jobs, fostering growth, and reducing poverty. Our projects aim to reduce barriers and provide incentives through scholarships for women to enroll in higher education and TVET programs.

Removing barriers to girls schooling

Better educated women and girls tend to be more informed about nutrition and healthcare, have fewer children, marry at a later age, and their children are usually healthier, should they choose to become mothers. They are more likely to participate in the formal labor market and earn higher incomes. Projects that provide stipends to improve primary and secondary school completion for girls and young women in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Sahel benefit close to half a million girls.

Promoting safe and inclusive schools for girls

Improving the quality of education and skills training for girls (and boys)

Education & Skills

Education and skills training are the bridge between human potential and economic opportunity.

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