As we bid farewell to Women’s Month, it is important to remember the African proverb, “if you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a girl, you educate a nation.”

Investing in girls’ education can guarantee gratifying national payoffs. According to the World Bank, giving girls access to schooling is a central part of eradicating poverty. “Better educated women tend to be healthier, participate more in the formal labour market, earn higher incomes, have fewer children, marry at a later age, and enable better health care and education for their children should they choose to become mothers. All these factors combined can lift households, communities, and nations out of poverty.” ..