Adane Wondie

Challenges of Somali Refugee Girls to Access Primary Education: Socio-cultural Effects on Somali Refugee Girls' Access to Primary Education in Nakivale Refugee Settlement Adane Wondie

Literacy is a human right unequally distributed among the world's population. Illiteracy hinders the economic prosperity of the poorest societies in this digital age. Aware of the gender relations influence to girls' access to education, Jomtien Declaration (1990) in its Article Three called for universalizing access and promoting equity nothing that "the most urgent priority is to ensure access to, and improve the quality of education for girls and women...". There is a need to integrate gender in humanitarian response particularly provision of primary education since women, men, girls and boys have specific needs depending on their social and cultural position. Research findings revealed that Somali pupils' access to primary education in Nakivale is largely influenced by gender relations within households. Although girls and boys dropout for different reasons, girls withdraw from school at an earlier age compared to boys. The study further indicates that value to girls' education among the Somali is largely measured against the girls' ability to remain sexually pure.