The NGO Plan International (PI) Thursday warned that COVID-19 impact on education in Latin America could compromise girls’ instruction because of gender discrimination.
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With the Latin American economy experiencing a contraction of at least 8 percent, low-income families are unlikely to afford children's education.
"Many girls may be out of school due to a combination of risk factors such as gender-based violence, early pregnancy, premature and forced marriages, the assumption of household responsibilities, and lack of access to sexual and reproductive health,” PI stated.
Besides, about 95 percent of children stopped attending face-to-face classes and many of them cannot comply with distant education strategies because of a lack of resources.
The pandemic's economic impact in Latin America could also harm funding for reproductive health education programs.
"If governments do not take urgent response measures, and awareness-raising work is done with parents to ensure that their daughters go back to school, the gender gap in terms of access to education could widen," PI said.
During the quarantine, 12 femicides have been recorded in Peru, 47 in Colombia, 163 in Mexico, and 27 in El Salvador.