Female education in developing countries

Women often do not receive the same education as men in certain developing countries. Even today, many women are unable to access education in developing countries. This happens at all levels within the educational system, from primary education to university level education to postgraduate training.

Importance of female education in developing countries

Health[e]Foundation believes it is important to provide equal educational opportunities for men and women in their services. Our approach is three-fold:

  1. The focus areas of our are women centered. We provide programs on maternal and child health, as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights, with a focus on women’s empowerment, gender equality, female genital mutilation and gender-based violence.
  2. We deploy mobile health services especially designed for women. Our LUCY maternal and neonatal health app has been developed to provide health information to pregnant women and mothers of newborns to empower them in their own health.
  3. In our our blended learning and e-learning programs we aim for an equal number of male and female participants. Men often have a greater chance of being invited to join training programs than women. We and our partners aim to have at least 50% female trainees in all our programs.

Education for women improves women’s health in developing countries and the overall well-being of a nation.

Women’s education in developing countries

Our approach enables us to offer education to thousands of female healthcare professionals and female community health workers. They, in turn, influence their clients and other community members by using their improved knowledge and skills, thus promoting women’s empowerment and gender-equality. Male healthcare professionals or community health workers who participate in our educational programs learn about the importance of women’s rights and this encourages the development of more equal societies.

“The SRHR[e]Education course creates awareness on gender equality, and increases women’s self-confidence, while also changing the attitudes of men towards women’s rights.”

EM (Male), student at Addis Ababa University – Ethiopia