The Girls’ Education Unit (GEU) of the Ghana Education Service (GES), in collaboration with the Girls’ Education Network (GEN), has renewed its call for sustained national and global investment in girls’ education.

They cautioned that the remarkable gains made over the past three decades, since the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women, could be eroded without continued support.

The appeal was made during the 2025 International Day of the Girl (IDG) celebration at Diaspora Girls’ Senior High School in Nsawam-Obodan, themed: “The Girl I Am, The Change I Lead: Girls on the Frontlines of Crisis.” The event brought together education stakeholders, civil society partners, development agencies, teachers, and students to celebrate the resilience and leadership of Ghanaian girls.

Delivering the keynote address on behalf of Professor Smile Dzisi, Deputy Director-General (Management Service) of GES, Mrs Hilda Amegatsi, Municipal Director of Education for New Juaben North, highlighted the historic progress Ghana has made since the establishment of the GEU in 1997. She noted that millions of girls have benefitted from targeted interventions improving access, retention, and completion at all levels of education.

“Following the Beijing Conference, Ghana made a bold commitment to gender equality in education,” she said. “The establishment of the GEU was a decisive step in breaking barriers that kept girls out of school. The success stories of today’s women in public service, academia, science, and entrepreneurship are living testimonies of this investment.”

Mrs Amegatsi appealed to the government, donor partners, and civil society organisations to renew their commitment, stressing: “The world cannot afford to take a step back. When you educate a girl, you educate a nation.”

Addressing claims that promoting girls’ education sidelines boys, Professor Dzisi dismissed such arguments as misleading and divisive, emphasising that gender equity in education benefits both boys and girls. “Empowering girls does not mean neglecting boys,” she stated. “Education is not a zero-sum game. Our goal is to create a level playing field where both girls and boys can thrive. When girls succeed, families are stronger, communities are healthier, and nations are more prosperous — and boys benefit equally from that progress.”

Mrs Amegatsi reaffirmed the GES’s dedication to advancing gender equity and inclusion through initiatives spearheaded by the GEU, the Special Education Division, and other school-based gender-responsive programmes. She expressed gratitude to the GEU’s partners, including UNICEF-Ghana, CAMFED-Ghana, T-TEL Ghana, FAWE Ghana, Child Online Africa, and Power to Girls, for their continued support.