AIDS hampers schooling for world's girls - UNICEF

Some 90 million girls - compared with 25 million boys worldwide - lack primary school education, due to factors including HIV/AIDS, early marriage and teen pregnancy, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said in a new report. According to the report, titled 'Gender Achievements and Prospects in Education', poverty, war, natural catastrophes and traditional gender roles were other factors that kept girls out of school. The report says that lack of education puts girls at greater risk of contracting HIV and other diseases, as well as becoming victims of violence, abuse, poverty and exploitation. "Sub-Saharan Africa is the worst affected region in the world in terms of getting children into school overall...," UNICEF Head of Education, Cream Wright, said during the report's launch at the global advisory committee for the UN Girls' Education Initiative in Beijing recently. Access the full report here: www.unicef.org