With UNICEF help, teens show girls in Uganda, Pakistan the way to school

Two years ago, 15-year-old Shamim Cairo Atwine signed up for the Girls' Education Movement (GEM), an initiative launched in 2001 by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in her native Uganda, hoping to help other girls get into school, improve their study habits and gain the same confidence that she has learned from the club.

“I can stand up in front of the world and testify that GEM” – which UNICEF describes as a major effort to transform schools and education systems into environments where girls can achieve and have equal opportunities – “can and does make a difference for girls and boys,” Cairo, as she is known, told a press briefing in Geneva on the launch of UNICEF's State of the World's Children report for 2004, the agency's annual flagship publication.

“The GEM slogan is 'Girls in the lead, boys as allies and tapping the wisdom of adults,'” she said with pride.

According to the report, each year more than 121 million children, more than half of which – 65 million – are girls, never see the inside of a classroom. Although the agency launched the report at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy stressed that technology could help children but it could not replace basic literacy and learning.

“All the technology in the world cannot replace what these children are losing, which just shows that when it comes to ensuring every child a quality basic education, we don't need a revolution, we just need to take responsibility,” she said.

Appearing with Cairo at the briefing was Abid Ali of Pakistan, 14, a member of the Boy Scouts in Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran and is mostly rural in population and characterized by rugged mountains and vast interior deserts.

“For me, girls' education if the most important task because the female literacy rate in my area is very low, at 32 per cent. I am well aware that girls' education means the education of families. It is also critical for social development, because we do not have female teachers and doctors,” said Abid, who became interested in the Brothers Join Meena (BJM) project after his Scout troop began running it through his middle school. Meena is an animated character created by UNICEF for South Asia to promote child rights, especially those of girls.

“I am confident that the work I am part of will go a long way in bringing education, health and hygiene to my people, something they have been deprived of for too long,” he added.