Universal access to primary education is key to curbing the spread of HIV. Secondary and tertiary education has an even stronger impact. This is especially true for girls: with each additional year of education, girls acquire vital life skills and higher income-earning potential.

Education also tends to delay the age at which young people first have sex. Girls who complete secondary education know more about HIV – both how to prevent infection and what to do if they think they are infected. They tend to have fewer sexual partners over a lifetime and are more likely to use condoms. And by providing women with more economic options and independence, education gives them vital knowledge, skills, and opportunities. This means they can make informed choices about delaying marriage and childbearing, having healthier babies and avoiding risky behaviour – as well as knowing more about their rights.

One hundred and eighty-nine countries signed up to ensure universal primary education by 2015. But many States have already missed the Millennium Development Goal to have equal numbers of boys and girls in school by 2005. Today, some 117 million school-age children (the majority of them girls) remain out of school.

The elimination of school fees in many countries has dramatically boosted the number of girls in school. At the same time, it is important to support schools so they can cope with rapid influxes of pupils - having enough trained teachers is critical. And other financial barriers such as compulsory school uniforms, textbook charges, and activity fees, need to be removed.