How UK aid and Street Child transformed lives of marginalised girls in Nepal

For many girls in Nepal’s Musahar community, leaving school early is not an exception — it is the norm.  

The Musahars are one of Nepal’s most marginalised Dalit groups, long subjected to caste-based discrimination, extreme poverty, and deep exclusion from education. For girls in particular, household responsibilities, financial pressure, and limited access to quality learning often force them out of the classroom long before they have the chance to thrive. 

Anita’s* story is one of many. After having to drop out of school in Grade 3, she spent her days herding goats, doing household work, and playing with friends. As responsibilities at home grew, the possibility of returning to school was increasingly out of reach.  

Launched in 2020, Street Child’s ‘Marginalised No More’ programme was created to reach girls like Anita who had been left behind by traditional systems of schooling. With majority funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the programme supported 7,800 out-of-school girls from highly marginalised communities, including the Musahars of Madhesh Province. 

Over six months, Anita gained the foundational literacy and numeracy skills she needed to return to formal education. Today, she is in Grade 10 and preparing for her board exams. She now dreams of completing Grade 12 and going on to pursue a bachelor’s degree. Along the way, her parents and older brothers have become some of her biggest supporters, encouraging her to stay focused on her studies. 

Without this support, Anita’s education would almost certainly have ended in childhood, proving that stories like hers do not happen by chance. They are made possible by sustained investment that targets the most marginalised girls. Today, that progress is under threat. 

UK aid cuts mean initiatives like this are being scaled back or shut down entirely, despite being specifically designed to reach the most marginalised children who wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to learn. Without alternative funding, life-changing work like Marginalised No More simply cannot continue at the scale needed to reach more girls like Anita. 

Street Child’s Education Interrupted appeal is helping to mitigate the worst effects of these unprecedented cuts on our work, so that more girls can access the education they deserve. Every pound donated will be matched thanks to a group of generous supporters.

*Name changed for safeguarding