Plan International USA is a nonprofit organization that got started in 1937 by caring for refugee children of the Spanish Civil War. The organization posits that education is a fundamental right, and they direct their energies toward improving access to a quality education and the proper management and governance of education. Donations go toward schools, furniture, supplies, and the proper training of teachers and parent-teacher associations.

Improving access to education for all is a challenging task, especially in those cultures where one group or gender is held in a higher esteem than another. Some societies are very patriarchal and don’t allow for girls and women to receive the education that males do. Plan International U.S.A. has a very visible link on their website to their campaign “Because I Am A Girl”. One story on this webpage deals with the much publicized international case involving Malala, a young girl who pursued her schooling and was attacked by the Taliban for doing so. ”Because I Am A Girl” highlights Malala Day on July 12 as an occasion to demand that all children, especially girls, get the education they deserve. Malala has become a symbol of oppressed children everywhere who are denied their right to an education.

How important is the education of girls to ending global poverty? Plan International U.S.A. reports that 70% of those 1 billion people living in extreme poverty are female. Schooling raises the standard of living of women and gives girls in the developing world the capacity to fight back against injustice. Denying girls this right is costing the developing world $92 billion in potential income.

Plan International U.S.A. is a dedicated organization that champions what is arguably the cure-all for global poverty, education. With projects aimed at getting girls in the classroom and stories of brave children like Malala, the movement is gaining ground. To make a direct donation to helping women and children, please “Protect A Girl” and visit www.planusa.org.

– David Smith

Sources: Plan International U.S.A, Malala Day, Plan U.S.A.
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