World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim has announced that the World Bank Group would invest $2.5 billion over 5 years in education projects that directly benefit adolescent girls, whose empowerment is central to the Bank Group’s development efforts. The announcement, made at the Let Girls Learn event during the World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings, was followed by a call to action from the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, urging key policymakers and influencers from around the world to commit to urgent action in support of adolescent girls.

• By 2020 the Bank Group expects to invest at least $2.5 billion in education projects targeting adolescent girls (ages 12-17).
• About 75 percent of these investments are expected to be from IDA, the Bank Group’s fund for the poorest countries, and largely in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, which have the highest number of out-of-school girls.
• Today, 62 million girls around the world are not in school, and half of them are adolescents.
• A World Bank study found that every year of secondary school education is correlated with an 18 percent increase in a girl’s future earning power.
• Educating adolescent girls and promoting gender equality is part of a broader, holistic effort by the Bank Group.