1.4 The multiplier effect: educate a woman to educate a man
In development sector, there is an old saying that goes more or less like this: “You educate a man, you educate an individual. But if you educate a woman, you educate a nation”. Since the middle of the 19th Century, it was clear that when women are educated it is not only them to strive: the benefits are felt throughout the whole community with a multiplier effect.
The first evidence of the importance of investment in health and education of women and girls is to be found in the MDGs where development in the human capital is presented as the fundamental direction to end poverty. Ultimately families, communities and countries are only as strong as the health of their women. Part of the picture includes an adequate education. Often what distinguished a struggling family from a stable one is the presence of a strong woman that holds half of the equilibrium. The same can be applied to a broken nation compared to a thriving one: when there is equality and respect between men and women, countries prosper. Educated and healthy women can effectively engage in productive activities, earn more and experience greater returns to schooling.
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Girls ' education helps the country 's economy for the correlated reduced fertility rates: studies have shown that putting girls in school is a better method for contraception than condoms. This is due to the delay of the age at which they are going to have their first child and the higher awareness about health and economic benefits of having fewer