Non-discriminatory education benefits both girls and boys and thus ultimately contributes to more equal relationships between women and men. Equality of access to and attainment of educational qualifications is necessary if more women are to become agents of change. Despite progress in this area, girls still face discrimination because of ingrained cultural attitudes, early marriages, pregnancies, lack of accessible schools, and inadequate and gender-biased educational materials.
Girls continue to be denied quality education in science and technology.
Two thirds of the 960 million illiterate adults in the world are women. The relationship between women's education and child survival is dramatic. In Kenya , for example, 10.9 per cent of children born to women with no education will die by age five, compared to 7.2 per cent of the children of women with primary school education, and 6.4 per cent of the children of women with a secondary school education. The Fund also provides counselling and other services for youth in another 30 countries. These activities include information, education and communication programmes and family life education.