Adolescence is a critical stage. If a girl pursues the course dictated by poverty, she will be obliged to abandon her education and almost certainly get married at an early age. Statistics show that in developing countries 25 to 50 percent of girls become mothers before they reach the age of 18.

This is depressing because an uneducated mother, who does not have life and labor skills, is less likely to earn money and even less likely to stand up for her rights and influence the family or public life. Moreover, she will be more vulnerable to sexual violence and HIV infection. About 14 million adolescent girls become mothers every year, according to UNFPA figures. Complications during pregnancy or labor are the main cause of death of girls aged between 15 and 19 years. Adolescent girls are also two to five times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than women in their 20s, and their children are 1.5 times more likely to die before their first birthday. Each sad story, multiplied by millions of girls, consigns entire communities and countries to chronic poverty and poor health.

But there is an alternative. If a girl continues her schooling and learns life skills, she will marry later in life, have fewer and healthier children, and is more likely to earn a salary and send her children to school.

Investing in girls' education is the right, and the most important thing to do. Women represent half the population and "hold up half of the sky", as a Chinese leader said, and should have their rightful share in making decisions that affect their lives and countries. Women and girls are half of the human capital available to alleviate poverty and attain development. But without education they are unable to pursue these targets to the extent they should.

Investing in girls' education makes economic sense, too. Nationwide, each additional year of schooling raises average annual GDP growth by 0.37 percent. An added year of school increases a girl's eventual wages by 10 percent, reduces the probability of infant mortality by 10 percent and decreases female fertility rate by 10 percent. Moreover, women who earn money reinvest 90 percent of it in their families as opposed to 30 to 40 percent for men.

Therefore, investment in girls' education is possibly the best investment that people in the developing world can make. Girls are a powerful force of transformation and, if given the opportunity, hold the key to a better future. Let's use the occasion of Global Action Week to raise the critical need to invest our time, energy, thought and funding in girls' and women's education.

The author is director and representative of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Beijing Office.

(China Daily 05/06/2011 page9)