ABSTRACT
Despite being a universal human right, education is not yet equally enjoyed by both boys and girls; between 1999 and 2011 the primary education rates of gender parity rose from 57% to 63% (UNESCO, 2014, p. 11). Nevertheless, tremendous global gains have been made in enrolling and retaining girls in school: The number of out-of-school primary school-aged girls dropped from 62.4 million in 1999 to 31 million girls in 2011 (UNESCO, UNGEI, 2014, p. 3). CARE believes that the greatest remaining obstacles to girls’ education are not a lack of schools or teachers, but the low social status in which girls are held (Miske, Meagher, & DeJaeghere, 2010). The considerable benefits of girls’ education can be sustained, deepened, and multiplied if integrated with deliberate efforts to address and alter girls’ social status and empowerment. Leadership skills in adolescent girls and supportive changes in behaviors, customs, and policies must be cultivated in the societies around them. As such, CARE 1 has developed the Girls’ Leadership Model (CARE USA, 2009) to guide those efforts.
