Honourable members, 130 million girls are out of school. That is 130 million potential engineers, potential entrepreneurs, and potential political leaders the world is missing out on.
The African continent is on the cusp of a demographic transition. By 2050, the continent will be home to nearly two in five of the world's youth. Sub-Saharan Africa's working-age population is set to triple to 1.25 billion and its population is projected to rise to over two billion. The potential of a demographic dividend can be an immense economic opportunity for Africa and for the world, but this opportunity can only be hastened if we take action now.
Today, we ask Canada to contribute to the financing of the Global Partnership for Education in 2018 as part of the solution so it can help millions of girls in the poorest countries get the education they deserve.