§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact on girls' school enrolment of increased access to sanitation; and how this is taken into account in the design of the programmes funded by his Department in pursuit of the Millennium Development Goal to eliminate gender disparity in education. [188058]
§ Hilary BennDFID's assessment of this relationship is two-fold. First, access to basic facilities such as school toilets, safe drinking water, clean surroundings and information on hygiene all improve the quality of the school environment and result in better learning outcomes for girls. Provision of basic facilities ensures universal basic education and results in increased enrolment of girls in schools. Basic sanitation for girls in particular, can lead to lower dropout rate for girls, especially at puberty. For example, in Bangladesh, a school sanitation and hygiene education programme reported to increase girls' attendance rates by 11 per cent.
Second, parents are more likely to send girls to school when they have ready access to safe, drinking water and girls are no longer required to collect water from distant water pumps.
An example of how this assessment has been used in DFID's work is in Sudan. As part of its support for the peace process in Sudan, DFID has provided approximately £2 million to assist the United Nations Children's Fund's (UNICEF) education programmes in the conflict affected areas of the country, providing books and materials to over 2,000 primary schools and supporting the construction of water and sanitation facilities.