@ED2030AfricaHow girls’ education and safety will be harmed by the covid response
And the steps African governments can and must take to mitigate it.
Young girls play in the school yard in Kenya. Credit: GPE/Kelley Lynch.
Abigail*, a young woman who lives in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare became pregnant by a much older married man when she was 14. She had left school because her mother couldn’t afford to pay for her fees, books and other school supplies. Her mother was also struggling to buy food and other basics for the family. The man had given her money. She felt she couldn’t refuse him as he was helping her.
Abigail had had no sex education in school and didn’t know how to prevent pregnancy. When she was 16, she told us: “I wish to go back to school because I am still a child”.