Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, asserts that effective, appropriate and well-resourced education for the millions of marginalised women and girls across the Commonwealth is essential to the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of gender equality.
Betty Sam from the Solomon Islands was raised in a family where only the men were seen as worthy of education. At the age of 15 and unable to pay for school on her own, Betty begged her father for a chance to continue her education but was denied. Instead she moved to the capital, Honiara, and got a paid job as a house cleaner, which enabled her to enrol in a computer course. This course was a turning point in Betty’s life; it provided her with the digital skills needed for a new, mor fulfilling job and encouraged her to talk with other girls in her local community about the importance of education.
She says: “I hope that other women can see that just because you don’t have a formal education at school, it doesn’t mean that you can’t keep learning new skills”…
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Executive Director, UN Women
