Former White House official leads effort on behalf of girls’ education in New Delhi 

Warrenton, Virginia – In partnership with Deepalaya, a well-established NGO, and the Office of the Chief Minister of New Delhi, the Father and Daughter Alliance (FADA) just launched an effort in India to keep 1,000 girls in school with the help and protection of their fathers.

New Delhi’s Health and Family Welfare Minister Kiran Walia stated that the project is being planned on the premise that the father, in a patriarchal set-up, is often the decision-maker. She said: “In our society, daughters are usually close to their mothers. Given the social pattern, fathers rarely ever interact with daughters because they are meant to assist their mothers in household chores. We must increase the interaction between fathers and daughters.”

Pedro C. Moreno, an international attorney who until recently worked in the White House, now serves as President of the Father and Daughter Alliance (FADA).   Moreno just returned from New Delhi with his teenage daughter and pointed out:  “I want my daughter to have the same educational and other opportunities as my two boys.”  He added: “and I want to work so other girls, particularly these disadvantaged girls in India with whom we just met, can escape illiteracy and ultimately poverty.”  Moreno also met with a group of 50 low income fathers in New Delhi, some of them living in slums, and as a result they are now forming fathers associations for daughters advancement in different locations of the capital of India.

According to UNESCO, there are 4 girls out of school for every boy in India.  Girls account for more than one half of the approximately 75 million children out of school and the World Bank states that “in developing countries, girls lag behind boys” and “many more girls drop out along the way than boys.”

Deepalaya’s chief executive, T.K. Mathew, added that it is always the father’s unilateral decision to pull his daughter out of school. Mothers are hardly ever consulted on this. Mathew said: “If the father gets to know his child better, he may not consider her a burden at all.” 

FADA is a team of traditional and concerned family men/fathers who have seen the light on these issues, appealing to the father’s heart in other men in traditional/religious developing countries so they can help their daughters and other girls enroll and complete primary education and then access the same educational, economic and societal opportunities as boys.  

For more information, e-mail  PedroCMoreno@aol.com