Nigeria and Bangladesh are among other countries that will benefit from £20 million (N10.9 billion) global partnership to educate over one million girls around the world.
The U.K. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, on Tuesday announced the global partnerships with 11 multinationals to improve gīrls’ access to education and employment.
The British High Commission in Nigeria said in a statement that the prime minister launched the global partnership to mark 2022 International Women’s Day.
Johnson said that the UK Government would be working in partnership with UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited (GenU) to help deliver the programme, with key partners funding GenU being Accenture, Microsoft, Standard Chartered, Unilever, and United Bank of Africa.
The U.K. prime minister said: “The United Kingdom has long been a proud and mighty champion of this fundamental cause and today we take one leap further through our first global partnership of its kind.
“The global partnership is opening the opportunity for one million girls across
the developing world to have access to high quality skills training.
“ Ensuring every girl and young woman across the globe receives 12 years of quality education is the greatest tool in our armoury to end the world’s great injustices.
“Delivering on this mission will be one of the best defences against ignorance, ensure the greatest protection from prejudice and put a rocket booster behind our hopes and dreams for global development in the years to come,” Johnson said.
He said that businesses, charities, schools and colleges would shortly be able to bid for funds from the programme.
Johnson said that the partnership aims to support projects that would improve access to education for girls, with a focus on providing the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills needed to find work in key sectors such as technology and manufacturing.
He said this could include funding new skills training programmes, improving teaching or redesigning training to make it more relevant to business needs.
” Initially, bids will be encouraged for projects in Nigeria and Bangladesh, two countries where significant barriers to girls’ education remain.
“Funding from the programme will also help expand GenU’s `Passport to Earning’ (P2E) platform.
“This digital skills platform will provide girls with free, certified education and skills training which they can then use to support future employment and entrepreneurship opportunities,”Johnson said.
Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, said: “Supporting women and girls is at the heart of UK foreign policy. We want women to have agency over their own lives and to be free to succeed.
“Investing in girls’ education is vital for a more sustainable, peaceful and prosperous future. That’s why we are partnering with the private sector to help girls in developing countries access education and job opportunities,” Truss said.
Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education, Helen Grant, said: “Every girl everywhere deserves to have an education.
She said that from school to the workplace, the partnership would help give women and girls the skills they need to reach their full potential.
Kevin Frey, Chief Executive Officer of Generation Unlimited, said: “The Girls’ Education Skills Partnership exemplifies the commitment of the UK government and the private sector in addressing the critical gap in skilling girls for 21st Century opportunities.
“P2E is an innovative skills platform designed with partners to reach the girls everywhere, every time, preparing them with in-demand market relevant skills,” he said
