Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak this morning. I am very happy to be presenting on behalf of the ONE campaign with seven million people worldwide, as well as 130 million girls worldwide who are currently deprived of their human right to education.
As a student of international development, I can tell you that scholars in my field have been telling us for years of the positive benefits of educating young women in our world. We know this is the key to ending the volatile cycle of poverty, and we know that girls who graduate high school are less likely to be victims of child marriage and other forms of sexual abuse. We know that girls who graduate high school are also less likely to contract HIV/AIDS. We also know that for every $1 we invest in education, we see a benefit of about $10 in health care and income benefits.
Canada now has the ability and the opportunity to make a difference on this issue. The Global Partnership for Education is being replenished in 2018 and if we contribute our fair share of 2ยข per Canadian per day, we can become leaders in ensuring every child around the world has a decent quality education. This is the only global partnership that is dedicated solely to education in the developing world, and all the ONE campaign asks is that we contribute our fair share.
Thank you very much.