HOPE International Development Agency is providing education and literacy programs that are playing a key role in breaking the cycle of poverty.

Featured education and literacy projects:

Rescuing street children in Jhenidah, Bangladesh
Building a better future for children in Cambodia
Breaking the cycle of poverty among Cambodia's poorest families
Education saves lives in Ethiopia
Primary education and scholarships for indigenous children in the Philippines

Illiteracy is a major contributor to poverty around the world. Global illiteracy rates are staggering, and the vast majority of people who lack even basic reading and writing skills are those living in developing countries.

Factors which prevent children from attending school include increasing school fees, family duties, or a shortage of nearby schools. Considering that over 100 million primary-school aged children are currently unable to attend school (over eighty percent of whom live in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa), illiteracy rates are likely to increase if this issue does not receive immediate and sustained attention.

A person’s literacy level largely depends on whether they are male or female.

In the least developed countries, 56% of women are illiterate compared to approximately 37% of men. In the many areas where women do not enjoy the same social standing as men, this disparity in literacy rates serves to intensify the inequality between men and women. The inability to read and/or write creates a further sense of vulnerability and dependency. For those people who do not possess these skills, there are few opportunities to escape a life of hardship.

Literacy training is a formidable weapon in the fight against poverty. A person’s physical, social and psychological well-being is jeopardized by an inability to read and write. HOPE’s experience is that if a poor person learns to read, they will gain the confidence and ability to be involved and empowered citizens in their communities.

HOPE’s educational initiatives focus primarily on neglected children. This approach is essential for developing strong, confident and literate future generations.

HOPE seeks to equip the present generation with the skills to rise up from a life of poverty through their own creativity and capacities. Education not only ensures economic stability but also promotes a sense of independence and self-worth.

HOPE works to empower women by teaching reading and writing skills.

Confident and literate women are more likely to have smaller, healthier families with children that have a better chance of attending school. Offering women the opportunity to gain literacy skills is an important step toward promoting positive social change. Women who have undergone literacy training are increasingly aware of local and national events as well as their individual rights. With an education, women are better able to make informed decisions concerning their livelihoods, family planning and health practices for themselves and family members.

Finally, HOPE aims to inform people residing in developed countries about the hardships faced by millions around the world. This aim is achieved through the circulation of educational materials and by offering citizens of the developed world an opportunity to experience live and work in the developing world (HOPE’S UNION program). An educated public can better understand the complex nature of poverty and can more effectively respond to the solutions which exist for its alleviation.

Educational programs are fundamental to HOPE’s work. Many individuals have received necessary support and assistance through HOPE’s educational initiatives. These programs involve men, women and children to ensure that everyone receives a quality education.

Help women and children receive an education by giving today.

More than 40 percent of African women do not have access to basic education.

If a girl is educated for six years or more, as an adult her prenatal care, postnatal care and childbirth survival rates, will dramatically and consistently improve.

Mothers with an education immunize their children 50 percent more often than mothers who are not educated.

HIV/AIDS spreads twice as quickly among uneducated girls than among girls that have even some schooling.

The children of a woman with five years of primary school education have a survival rate 40 percent higher than children of women with no education.