Worldwide, 451 million women (age: 15+) have no formal schooling | Jugend Eine Welt supports school and training projects for girls and women in the Global South
Vienna (OTS) – “Education determines the future of every person. Education is the key to a later life with dignity. For this reason, school and training projects, especially for girls and women in the Global South, are particularly important to us. They demonstrably have less access to schooling and are therefore at high risk of being exploited.”
emphasized Reinhard Heiserer, Managing Director of Jugend Eine Welt, on the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8th. The Austrian development organization has been supporting numerous school and training projects for disadvantaged girls and women for 26 years in order to give them a real chance for a future worth living. One of these projects is located in Cotonou, the capital of the West African state of Benin.
Four out of five working children are girls
Benin is considered one of the least developed countries in the world. In the Human Development Index, the country with a population of 13 million is ranked 166th out of a total of 191 countries. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine are having an increasingly negative impact on the economy. As prices rise, more and more people are affected by poverty. Illiteracy is another major problem in Benin: almost two thirds of the population over the age of 15 can neither read nor write. The very young residents of Benin – 42 percent are under 15 years old – often have few educational opportunities. More than half of all young people between the ages of 5 and 17 have to work to earn a living. “No fewer than four out of five working children are girls. Instead of receiving important education, they are exploited in cotton fields and granite quarries. In Benin there are a particularly large number of girls who have to work day in and day out as cheap domestic help and, under these circumstances, are vulnerable to exploitation, violence and sexual abuse. An average of ten hours of work every day is not uncommon.”says Heiserer.
protection and education
Jugend Eine Welt is committed to Benin, together with the long-standing Projektpartner’s Sr. Hanni Denifl FMA, for girls and young women affected by abuse and violence. The “Centre Laura Vicuna”, in the middle of the poor Zogbo district in the city of Cotonou, welcomes girls between the ages of eight and sixteen. In addition to accommodation and regular meals, the young women receive literacy courses, good vocational training, meaningful leisure care as well as legal, medical and psychosocial support. Many of the girls are traumatized and urgently need help to overcome their terrible experiences. The local Don Bosco Sisters, led by the Tyrolean-born Hanni Denifl, focus primarily on the strengths of the girls and on their reintegration into the family and community. “A five-year-old girl was one of the first to come to us. There had been two deaths in her family of origin. Although diseases such as malaria and typhus are common, the relatives believed that the child was enchanted. Psychologists and social workers at our center looked after the little one and we found a foster family. Today she is a young woman with a high school diploma and nursing training who volunteers at our center on Saturdays.”says Sr. Hanni Denifl FMA.
School education: women are at a disadvantage compared to men
“Globally, women are still lagging behind men when it comes to schooling.”Reinhard Heiserer, managing director of the Austrian development organization Jugend Eine Welt, points out Dossier “Education: Key to sustainable development worldwide” von Univ. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lutz. According to this, 451 million women (age: 15+) worldwide have no formal schooling. For comparison: there are 278 million men. “The child protection center in Benin is a good example of the great work that our project partners do locally. Please help with your donation that disadvantaged girls and women in Benin receive important school education and thus receive the key that unlocks the door to a later life with dignity.”
said Heiserer in conclusion.
The Dossier “Education: Key to sustainable development worldwide” from Univ. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lutz is here Download available: https://www.jugendeinewelt.at/dossier-bildung
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