In this week’s New York Times magazine, the lead story concerns the battle for women’s rights in this century. While there’s little argument that countries in the first world have made huge leaps in the during that time, bringing the franchise to millions of women, expanding the number of women in the work force, and generally reversing thousands of years of gender bias, that’s not the case everywhere. In countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan, that sense of progress is only starting to percolate and there’s a real opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the women and girls living there.

Women are widely thought of as second class citizens in many countries and as a result of this kind of thinking, they represent one of our most precious and untapped resources for innovation and positive change. For this very reason and to maintain the status quo, they’re often denied educations.

In the United States, it’s easy to take for granted the ease with which women (and men) can access an education. Abroad, the mission of educating women requires more funding for schools, teachers, and books. I believe that equality of education is one of the most vital ways to move the world forward as we look ahead to the next 100 years and attempt to find solutions to the problems of the modern age.

[image via Shazron]