Access to Empowerment International began in 2001 in efforts to educate children and their communities in the belief that education gives children positive choices for a hopeful future. Many children in developing countries are unable to obtain even the most basic education, continuing the cycle of poverty. 13% of the world's children have never been to school. 32% of children living in the least developed countries do not attend primary school. Only 28% of children living in the poorest countries attend secondary school. In many regions throughout the world, girls are more likely to miss out on primary school than boys. This is what drives Access to Empowerment's work.