It's hard to believe that in the year 2015, there are estimated to be more than 60 million girls worldwide who still do not have access to primary and secondary school education. According to UNICEF, 80 percent of girls in South and West Asia are unlikely ever to even begin formal schooling. Those girls who do obtain some level of education are much more likely than their male counterparts to experience violence and sexual abuse, both in the classroom, and on their way to school.
Even as courageous young women like Malala and others obtain international acclaim for fighting for their right to an education, girls in many countries still face repressive, institutional barriers to going to school. It's a sad reality of the world we live in that fear and the threat of violence still keeps so many girls from the classroom. It is a particularly sad irony that in many cases, the nations where girls have the hardest time accessing education are precisely those who have the most to gain from an educated population of women, able to contribute to the growth and development of their societies.
At Girl Scouts, we know that when girls everywhere are given the tools and the opportunities to succeed, they can change their world forever. Bringing gender parity to the classroom and ensuring educational opportunities for girls is among the easiest and most direct ways nations can break the cycle of poverty and empower the future growth of our world. Creating opportunities for women is one of the best ways to boost economic productivity, bring diversity to leadership, and achieve balance in the workforce that yields greater creativity, innovation, and results. It all starts with supporting initiatives around girls' education and the programming to sustain it.
Earlier this year the President and First Lady announced Let Girls Learn, a government-wide initiative that brings increased focus, resources, and impact to the critical issue of adolescent girls' education. Through the efforts of the First Lady -- working with the Peace Corps -- this initiative supports community-generated and community-led girls' education projects worldwide.
The driving force behind Let Girls Learn is the idea that governments must encourage and support community-led solutions to reduce barriers that prevent adolescent girls from going to school. At Girl Scouts, working with and through local communities to ensure girls have access to educational opportunity is a central part of our mission to build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. So we are proudly answering the First Lady's call by teaming up with the Peace Corps to deepen global support for girls' education.
This year Girl Scouts committed to advancing girls' education worldwide by making tools and resources available to Girl Scouts who are pursuing their Gold Award and the Global Action Award Badge on this topic. Through these national programs, two million Girl Scouts will have the opportunity to be engaged in learning and leadership to create equity in girls' education around the world.
Today, in an historic meeting of the minds, Girl Scouts from the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona will pack into McClelland Hall at the University of Arizona to hear from returned Peace Corps volunteers about their life-changing experiences making a difference in communities around the world. The event will be co-hosted by Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet and will feature returned Peace Corps volunteers who will share their experiences and insights, and answer questions from the girls in the audience.
It's all part of Girl Scouts' and Peace Corps' work to empower girls around the world and ensure that access to a high quality education is not limited by gender. All the data shows that when girls succeed, so does a society. Girl Scouts will now have the opportunity to learn about how they can make a global impact on girls' education by earning the Global Action Award badge, or focusing their Gold Award project on solving a global issue by connecting with Peace Corps volunteers and experts in the field.
Imagine a world where more than 60 million more girls have equal, safe access to quality education. Imagine a world where their potential is released for the benefit of their societies; and the ripple effect those benefits will have on our own. At Girl Scouts, we believe every girl deserves the opportunity to unleash her leadership potential for the world. It's time to recognize girls' access to education worldwide as one of the great civil rights issues of our time, and work to make gender parity in the classroom a reality on a global scale.