The Power of Women’s and Girls’ Voices for Education Policy Change Part 2: Effective Messaging on Global Education WELCOME! WE WILL GET STARTED IN JUST A FEW MOMENTS

Today’s Event WE’LL COVER: WHO IS WOMEN THRIVE WORLDWIDE THE GLOBAL EDUCATION CRISIS THE UNITED NATIONS & EDUCATION IMPACTFUL, EVIDENCE-BASED MESSAGES ENGAGING YOUR AUDIENCE

About Women Thrive Worldwide More than 1 billion women and girls live in poverty worldwide. Women Thrive is a leading voice for global women’s rights. We work to empower grassroots women so their perspectives and solutions shape local, national, and global policies to help women break free from poverty, violence, and inequality.

About Women Thrive Worldwide Alliance for Women’s Solutions Women Thrive’s Alliance for Women’s Solutions is a network of local women’s groups and civil society organizations in developing countries committed to promoting women’s solutions in development policies and programs. Change Champions Women Thrive’s Change Champions program provides Alliance members across the world support from everyday activists in the United States and elsewhere to help move forward programs and policies that impact the lives of women and girls. Coalitions for Equitable Development Women Thrive’s Coalitions program leverages powerful coalitions to ensure women’s empowerment is central to international development policies and programs.

The Global Education Crisis "In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It's their normal life. But in other parts of the world, we are starving for education... it's like a precious gift. It's like a diamond…" MALALA YOUSAFZAI

The Global Education Crisis THE PROBLEM: 175 million young people living in developing countries are unable to read part or all of a sentence—61 percent of them are young women. The number of young people out-of-school has actually gone up in recent years—124 million children and young adolescents have either never started school or have dropped out. Because of global efforts, more children have the chance to go to school than ever before, but they face real problems in getting a quality education and learning. These include too few school resources, overcrowded classrooms, little teacher training, and persistent social barriers.

The Global Education Crisis EDUCATED GIRLS & WOMEN CHANGE THE WORLD.  If all students in developing countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty  On average, every additional year of school increases a girl’s earnings by percent.  If all women completed primary school, there would be 66 percent fewer maternal deaths, saving 189,000 lives per year.  The number of girls married by age 15 would fall 14 percent if all girls completed primary school in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia. If they completed secondary education, 64 percent fewer girls would be child brides.

The United Nations and Education THE MILENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS  In September 2000, building upon a decade of major United Nations conferences and summits, world leaders came together to adopt the United Nations Millennium Declaration.  They committed to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and set a series of time-bound targets that became known as the Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs.  The deadline of these eight targets – which range from reducing extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education – is December  Much progress has been made around the world on achieving these goals, but there is still work to be done to alleviate poverty through a framework of sustainable development. A new global development framework will now replace the MDGs.

The United Nations and Education THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS  The United Nations members states adopted the sustainable development agenda, commonly called the Global Goals, and targets for The 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) cover issues including peace, health, climate, and education.  Right now is an important opportunity for education advocates to make their voices heard and influence development policies and funding over the next 15 years. The Global Goals influence what issues governments, development organizations, and donors will focus on and where money will be spent. They also bring the world’s most pressing development concerns to the global public’s attention.  Getting involved in publicizing and implementing the goals can help focus attention, political will, and funding to your priorities around goal 4 on quality education.

The United Nations and Education THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: the world’s largest anti- poverty effort ever after the Millennium Development Goals. The United Nations formally adopted the Goals in September.

The United Nations and Education SDG 4 QUALITY EDUCATION Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Impactful, Evidence-Based Messages  Messaging is the heart – and art – of successful advocacy,  An impactful message will be direct and persuasive, and be supported by strong evidence.  Evidence should be ground in the priorities, realities, and solutions of those affected by the issue to have maximum relevance and impact.  Present your information clearly and simply.  Use stories to personalize and humanize the issue.

Impactful, Evidence-Based Messages  Target messages to a particular audience. Consider the interests, positions, and attitudes of your target audience when developing your messages.  What do they care about?  What information do they need?  What will persuade them?  What format is best?

Impactful, Evidence-Based Messages POLICY BRIEFS  In 2013, Women Thrive collaborated with partners in developing countries and the United States on the Equitable Learning for All in the Post-2015 Development Agenda paper.  115 additional organizations signed on to the paper. It provided crucial evidence of the realities of the global education crisis, and served as a powerful advocacy tool toward the UN’s High Level Panel (HLP). Homi Kharas (who drafted the HLP Report) asked all HLP members to read the paper. The subsequent report reflected a number of themes represented in the paper. The advisor to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia’s President and co-chair of the HLP, said the paper greatly influenced the HLP’s thinking and ultimate writing on education and learning.

Impactful, Evidence-Based Messages SHORT MESSAGES  Women Thrive and ANCEFA’s 2015 paper, Financing for Development Means Financing for Education, provided short, simple key messages at the top of the paper to provide decision-makers with the information they needed.

Impactful, Evidence-Based Messages CALL TO ACTION FOR DECISION- MAKERS  Women Thrive and partners’ 2014 brief for the UN’s Open Working Group provided a specific call to action for members with the exact goal language desired.

Impactful, Evidence-Based Messages INFOGRAPHICS  ASER Pakistan uses this information to actively advocate to Pakistan’s government for the right to education for girls and boys in urban and rural areas across household income levels. girls-are-failing-learn-pakistan

Impactful, Evidence-Based Messages MEDIA  UWEZO shares their data through print and TV media to inform the public and pressure decision-makers to act to improve learning outcomes.

Impactful, Evidence-Based Messages ACTIVIST ACTIONS  The #UpForSchool petition delivered 10 million signatures to the UN Secretary-General in support of access to quality education. ANCEFA mobilized activists from across Africa to stand together. a-africa-standing-upforschool-together

Get Connected Does your organization work to advance women’s rights in a developing country? Join Women Thrive’s Alliance for Women’s Solutions Are you an individual who wants to advance the worldwide women’s rights movement? Join Women Thrive’s Change Champions program

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