On the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8,  we face the sad truth that in poor countries, far too many girls and young women are not in school, and many girls face continuing health risks, harassment, and danger just walking to and from school.

I have seen for myself the extraordinary efforts that young girls will make to have a chance at schooling.  I think of four young girls in rural Democratic Republic of Congo who walked two hours to and from school each day together, four hours in total, for a chance at a better life.  I think of a young girl in Mali whose parents would not let her attend school because of a lack of toilet facilities.  She convinced them to let her attend by persuading a nearby family to let her use their latrine.  And I think of the many young girls who baby-sit a younger sibling at school as they try to learn.

These are everyday realities for young women who are trying to fight the odds, who may not know the details of how education connects to economic growth, political stability, and improved health outcomes, but who understand fully that it may be their one chance for the life they want.

Compared to boys, girls who do make it to school in low-income countries are not learning at the levels seen in high-income countries, and early drop-out is a depressingly familiar pattern.

An estimated 67 million children are out-of-school, over half of them are girls. Unfortunately, international development assistance for basic education in the poorest nations is far below what is needed.  This is especially ironic since money for education is such a good return on investment.

• There is a 50 per cent reduction in the number of children who die before age 5 when a mother can read.
• Each year of schooling translates into a 10% increase in an individual’s potential income.

There is, thankfully, also good news to report. Enormous strides in girls’ education have been made over the past decade, as is evident in a new publication by theEducation for All – Fast Track Initiative(EFA FTI).

• 19 million more children enrolled in school between 2002 and 2008 in over 40 developing countries supported by EFA –FTI.
• Girls represent 54% of these newly enrolled children, proving that girls are at last catching up with boys.
• More than two thirds of girls completed the last grade of primary school in all FTI countries in 2008, compared to only 52 percent in 2000

This is an astonishing development that deserves to be widely publicized and celebrated.

But girls are not learning at the rates they should. The 2009 PISA test, which tests 15-year old students’ academic skills, measured reading levels in 65 rich and middle-income countries.  In all 65 countries, without exception, girls outscored boys at a highly significant level.  Looking at other internally accepted tests on learning levels, this pattern is not found in poor countries. This is the hidden gender gap, and one which merits far more attention and study than it is currently getting (see attached slides).

The international community needs to support girls’ education in developing countries in a harmonized, shared way, with country-owned plans, like those centered in the EFA FTI partnership. Cutting development aid to education now, as several donor countries have  announced, would have a disastrous impact on girls and women. As Kevin Watkins, Director of UNESCO’s Global Monitoring Report 2011 writes in a foreword of FTI’s new report “Fast-Tracking Girls’ Education: “No issue merits more urgent attention in education than the glaring divide that separates boys  and girls in many of the world’s poorest countries.”

Investing in girls’ education is smart economics— both for developing countries and international donors.  On the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, I call upon all international development partners to make girls’ education front  and center in  our efforts to make our world more sustainable,  equitable and just.