Girls' Education Report a Great Follow Up to UNICEF's New Report on Adolescents

The UNICEF focus is on adolescents but those adolescents not too long ago were at primary or middle school, which is the focus of the new FTI report.

It's indeed time to focus on what UNICEF calls "an invisible generation,” of 1.2 billion 10-19 year olds who are marginalised in development aid budgets and programs.

Of course it's crucial to focus on the one-third drop in infant deaths in over a decade — which obviously shows major progress when we muster political will to invest in health and education of mothers. But we also cannot neglect these same boys and girls when they move into adolescence. We have to build on the gains made in early childhood and bring those gains forward to early adulthood. Yes, we have succeeded in inoculating millions of kids against disease — but one third of all new HIV cases globally affects 15-24 year olds.

UNICEF argues that adolescence is now the most dangerous period in many children's lifetimes and, girls especially, are highly at risk from the dangers of child marriage, forced labor, and prostitution. In fact, the least educated adolescents are those facing the greatest poverty, discrimination, and inequality. FTI's work has shown that educated girls are less likely to marry early and become pregnant, and girls who have completed primary and middle school are of course better able to protect their health.

Good for UNICEF in highlighting the problems of the "invisible generation” — and good for FTI in keeping the spotlight on primary schools girls and boys.