The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development prioritizes inclusive and equitable quality education and gender equality, particularly in Goal 4.1: Ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes. Yet according to UNESCO, one in five school-aged children, adolescents and youth – a total of 263 million people around the world -- are not in school. 

A girl’s level of education is inextricably linked to her risk of being forced into child marriage or prostitution, as many young girls from poor families are either married off or forced into prostitution to help mitigate economic burdens. In the Mindanao region of the Philippines, just 11% of indigenous Filipino children are expected to complete secondary school. And in Sierra Leone, girls with only a primary school education are three times more likely to be married before age 18 than those with a secondary education or higher, and those with no education are five times more likely.

In Sierra Leone, WHI is ensuring victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation not only recover from the psychological trauma of abuse, but gain the knowledge and skills needed to reduce their vulnerabilities and promote long-term recovery. In partnership with innovative mobile learning technologies designed by Norwegian-based Africa Startup, survivors of trafficking and exploitation in Sierra Leone are learning to read, write, and count from the safety and security of WHI’s Recovery Center. 

WHI is also working toward more inclusive access to quality education and improved school attendance, retention, and completion rates amongst the B’laan indigenous youth in the Philippines. WHI provides teaching and learning materials along with extracurricular resources for science, math, language, and art activities and a school feeding program at the Batotitik Mission Academy Inc. WHI also works with the Wesleyan Church to promote inclusive access to child protection and education for B’laan youth, who are often discriminated against in the provision of basic government social services, like free education. 

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, WHI operates the Learning to Learn program, helping teachers to provide one-on-one tutoring to primary school students with learning disabilities. Tutoring sessions are tailored to the students’ individual needs and offer support and encouragement that is otherwise lacking for these children. The program also works with a speech therapist to provide individualized focus to students who have speech difficulties or mental impairments. Our Bosnia and Herzegovina office also partners with US churches to host English day camps and assists Liaison in Bosnie, a non-profit organization from the Netherlands, to renovate classrooms in primary schools in the villages surrounding Livno, where our WHI representatives are based.

Through this work, WHI is ensuring inclusive access to education for all children, including children with disabilities, ethnic minorities, victims of human trafficking, and the very poor. These programs make a real-life difference for children and youth, who would otherwise be left-behind, and for parents who don’t know where else to turn for help.