Surviving children are less likely to complete their education or get needed health care. Far too many still don't. Women are twice as likely as men to be illiterate, and two-thirds of the 130 million children without access to primary school are girls. Yet, the benefits of girls' and women's education are substantial. In fact, educating girls is often called the best investment a country can make to ensure its development.
Educated women are less likely to die in childbirth and they give birth to fewer children.
Their infants are more likely to survive, and their children tend to receive better nutrition and are healthier and better educated. About 70 percent of the 1.3 billion people who live in absolute poverty are women. Throughout the world, women commonly lack access to credit, savings and financial services, hampering their ability to expand or start businesses that could pull their children out of poverty. Throughout the developing world today, nearly 900 million people suffer from chronic malnutrition. The consequences of malnutrition for women, adolescent girls, and children are especially grave.