A/HRC/22/50 by 135 percent from 1998-99 to 2003-04.23 In Afghanistan, school enrolment has increased significantly since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, though – due to cultural norms, lack of sanitation facilities and the security situation – the enrolment of girls in schools as compared to boys remains very low (at 0.35 in 2008).24 WFP seeks to bridge this gap by distributing a monthly ration of 3.7 litres of vegetable oil to girls, conditional upon a minimum school attendance of 22 days per month. In Malawi, the introduction into the school-feeding programme of take-home rations of 12.5 kg of maize per month for girls and double orphans attending at least 80 per cent of school days led to a 37.7 per cent increase in girls' enrolment. In Lao People‟s Democratic Republic, where girls‟ enrolment can be very low, particularly in rural areas and within some ethnic groups, pupils receive a takehome family ration of canned fish, rice and iodized salt as an incentive for parents to send them to school. From 2002 to 2008, enrolment rates in primary schools benefiting from the programme increased from 60 percent to 88 percent for boys and from 53 percent to 84 percent for girls.25 19. School-feeding programmes can also have important multiplier effects on the local economy. The above-mentioned study of the mid-day meals programme in India was found to create employment opportunities for poor women: in the sampled schools, more than two thirds of the cooks were women, often from underprivileged backgrounds. Ideally, under these programmes, priority should be given to disadvantaged persons when hiring, and living wages should be paid to the women employed through them. The local procurement of foods, and local processing, provides market opportunities for local food producers and service providers. In this regard, the Right to Food Guidelines recommends that States "consider the benefits of local procurement for food assistance that could integrate the nutritional needs of those affected by food insecurity and the commercial interests of local producers"26. In Brazil, Act No. 11,947 of 16 June 2009 requires that the national school feeding programme (PNAE), benefiting 49 million children, source 30 per cent of its food from family farms. Linkages with public works programmes could also be encouraged, in which poor, unemployed women could be paid to cook meals in schools. 20. In addition to expanding their economic opportunities in later life, higher enrolment rates for girls delay marriage and can thus lower the number of children a woman has, therefore enabling more women to seek employment with higher incomes. Low levels of education and early marriage create a vicious cycle in which women have many children and thus reduced opportunities for improving their education and seeking employment outside the home. Higher levels of education means women can take control over their fertility and be able to make informed decisions in terms of their sexual health and family planning, resulting in fewer children and improved economic opportunities. 27 21. While improved access to education is essential to creating such economic opportunities for women, such efforts will only be effective in combination with other measures. These include active labour policies that gradually improve the representation of women in all sectors and break down the vertical and horizontal segmentation of the labour 23 24 25 26 27 World Food Programme, Learning from Experience. Good practices from 45 years of school feeding (2012), p. 53. Ibid., p. 32. Ibid., pp. 49 and 52. FAO, Voluntary guidelines to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security (Rome, 2005) (hereafter Right to Food Guidelines), guideline 14.2. O. Galor and D.N. Weil, "The Gender Gap, Fertility and Growth", American Economic Review, vol. 86, No. 3 (1996), pp. 374-387. 9