The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has said that in Pakistan, some 7 million children are out of primary school, of which close to 60 per cent are girls. Since Education for All (EFA) goals were adopted and firm commitments made in 1990, progress in educating more children, especially girls, has been uneven globally and in Pakistan as well, the UNICEF said. Marking Global Action Week on Education which focuses on education for women and girls, UNICEF stated that globally 67 million children are out of school, of which 53 per cent are girls. If progress is not accelerated, even more children will be out of school by 2015. The challenge is to ensure access and quality education for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, says Dan Rohrmann, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan. Together with the Government of Pakistan, the UN Delivering as One Program, and NGO partners, we all need to make much greater effort to get more girls in school. But Pakistan will reap tremendous rewards if this can be achieved, IRNA quoted him as saying. According to the UNESCO EFA Global Monitoring Report (2010), gender, wealth and household location strongly influence the likelihood of a child being out of school. In Pakistan, 49 per cent of the poorest children aged 7 to 16 were out of school in 2007, compared with 5 per cent of children from the wealthiest households. Poor girls living in rural areas are sixteen times less likely to be in school than boys from the wealthiest household living in urban areas. With a population of 180 million people, almost half of which is less than 18 years of age, Pakistani youth play a critical role in shaping the countrys future progress. Applying the equity-based approach to education where the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children are provided with access to quality education, Pakistan can greatly accelerate its progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The UNICEF and its UN Delivering as One Program partners and others work with the federal and provincial governments to overcome barriers preventing access to education, including 'Back to School campaigns, school fee abolition, child-friendly schools, and early childhood education. Poverty, exploitation and armed conflict magnify the risk girls face even as they go to school, forcing many to stay home or drop out of fear for their safety.