Panel looks at girls’ health and education

The Harvard School of Public Health hosted a panel discussion about girls’ health and education on Friday, June 14.

The event, called "Igniting Change Worldwide," looked at the discrepancies between boys and girls’ education around the world and the reasons behind these differences. Panelists also discussed how early opportunity for education translates to healthier future generations, poverty alleviation, and improved economies.

"Education is such a powerful point of leverage because it's self perpetuating. Educated women educate their children." said Richard Robbins, director of Girl Rising. "When you manage to get a cohort of children into school," he said, there's a "remarkable impact."

Girl Rising is a documentary film that follows nine girls from nine countries around the world.

Other panelists included Jacqueline Bhabha, director of research at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights; David Canning, Harvard School of Public Health professor of population science, economics and international health; Alicia Yamin, director of the FXB center’s program on health rights of women and children; and Donna Barry, advocacy and policy director at Partners in Health.

The event was monitored by Abigail Trafford, former health editor at The Washington Post.

The panel discussion was presented in collaboration with GlobalPost and in partnership with Vulcan Productions, founding partner of the 10×10 global action campaign around Girl Rising.

Igniting Change Worldwide