UN Secretary General Kofi A. Annan on Bangladesh's Progress

"... ... ... Girls' enrollment in secondary schools there has more than doubled, and in three years the proportion of married women in the 13-to-15 bracket dropped to 14 percent from 29 percent. Families are getting smaller, and more women are employed, with higher incomes. The benefits will reach far beyond individual girls; they will include lower birth rates, better health practices, fewer children dying in infancy and a more productive labor force.

What made this change happen? Money. Since 1993, girls attending secondary school receive a small stipend while the school receives tuition assistance. The pilot program, sponsored by Bangladesh and financed by the World Bank, is now to be expanded, to affect up to 1.45 million girls.

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That is development. It is not abstract. It is real change in the lives of real people eager to improve their own conditions, if only they can get a real chance.

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If the new global deal is clinched in Monterrey this week, many more girls, in Africa, Asia and Latin America, could have the chance to go to school as girls in Narshingdi do. Millions of children could grow up to be productive members of their societies instead of falling victim to AIDS, tuberculosis or malaria. As their lives improve, the world will become a more prosperous and stable place."

Source: Trade and Aid in a Changed World, by Kofi A. Annan, UN Secretary General in New York Times Tuesday 19 March 2002. Also please visit: http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/stories/sg-19mar2002.htm