WOMEN DELIVER CONFERENCE UNGEI PANEL EMPOWERING GIRLS THROUGH EDUCATION POLICIES TO ACCELERATE EDUCATION FOR MOST VULNERABLE GIRLS DR. CODOU DIAW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FORUM FOR AFRICAN WOMEN EDUCATIONALISTS (FAWE ) London, October 19, 2007

STATE OF GE IN AFRICA  Education sector in SSA experiences formidable challenges despite progress made since Jomtien 1990 and Dakar 2000  Upward trend in average PS enrollment rates (78% in 1990  98% in 2004/5)  But gender gap persits in access, retention & achievement at all levels  EFA and MDG target of gender parity in primary level access by 2005 missed  Only 1 girl for every 2 boys makes it to SS & 1 girl for every 3 boys completes SE (accounts for 45% of girls)  Even smaller number of girls (40%) attain higher education  Gender bias in pedagogy, learning materials, school management  Socio-cultural attitudes and practices against GE die hard in many countries (Figures from UNESCO DAKAR +7 EFA Report)

BEYOND ACCESS & UPE  Universal primary access necessary but not sufficient  Not trade quantity with quality and equity  Transformation of teaching and learning processes crucial for retention and performance of girls  Facilitate gender-fair schooling experience for girls  Content of learning material  Pedagogy  Management

POLICIES TARGETING DISADVANTAGED & VULNERABLE GIRLS  Eliminating school fees  right to edu & equity  Providing bursaries  mitigate effect of poverty  Building boarding facilities  to address issue of distance from school, especially at post-primary level  Building gender-sensitive sanitation facilities  protection of girls

POLICIES TARGETING DISADVANTAGED & VULNERABLE GIRLS  Re-entry policy for pregnant schools girls and teenage mothers.  Establishing school-feeding programs  Making schools & surrounding communities harassment-free zones.  Mobilizing communities to support girls’ education and abandon harmful practices that keep girls out of school

MAXIMIZING EFFECTIVENESS  Multi-dimensional approach  advocacy accompanied with demonstration for replication and mainstreaming  Consolidated interventions  to avoid dispersion, duplication and short-term interventions /projects  Gender-responsive processes  Transformative education paying attention to need of girls and boys

FAWE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE GENDER-RESPONSIVE SCHOOL MODEL Performance

AREAS THAT NEED INCREASED ATT’N  ECED & EARLY GENDER SENSITIZATION (cannot be done successfully w/out parental and community engagement from the early start – Role modeling, anchored in culture  Education in CONFLICT/POST CONFLICT AREAS  POST-PRIMARY  VOTECH and EMPLOYMENT READINESS  NON FORMAL ED/LITERACY ( targeting teenage dropouts, and young adults  linkages w/health/sanitation/HIV-AIDS education, income generation activities)

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO STEP UP EFFORTS ? Reinforce Advocacy, Partnerships, Networking  UNGEI  ANCEFA Budgeting and financing  Governments must do gender-specific budgeting  Use mechanisms like FTI, SWAPS Better delivery of gender-responsive approaches  Improve capacity for  Monitor progress

THANK YOU Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE)