Climate change and girls’ secondary education: review of impact in eastern and southern Africa

• In Event: Poster session I
  In Poster Session: Poster session 1

Proposal

Girls’ education and climate change are two predominant topics within the international education and development field. There has been extensive focus within the international community on getting girls into school over the past two decades (Kwauk & Braga, 2017), and there is substantial funding directed toward climate change mitigation efforts (Chigwanda, 2016; Kharas, 2016). However, there is not extensive research readily available regarding the connection between the two sectors, and the funding of each remains separate. As international development funding appears to be declining given recent cutbacks from the U.S. and the UK (Gill, 2018; Harris, Gramer & Tamkin, 2017), and the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals approaches, it is even more critical to seek opportunities for collaboration that works to achieve multiple goals.

Research shows that certain regions of the world have been more prone to natural disasters in recent years, as precipitated by climate change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], 2012) and these natural disasters have had significant effects on food security, health, and education, particularly for girls. This is especially the case for sub-Saharan Africa, where climate events such as drought and floods are increasingly prevalent (Thornton, Ericksen, Herrero, & Challinor, 2014). Moreover, it appears that climate change influences girls' secondary education in this region and vice versa. Climate change can limit adolescent girls’ access and ability to complete secondary education by exacerbating pre-existing inequalities that act as barriers to their educational attainment, while quality education for girls has the potential to combat climate change through building resilience to climate shocks within communities and reducing factors that contribute to climate change.

While there has been some innovative work in focusing disaster risk reduction programs on children’s needs, there still appears to be a gap in acknowledging girls’ needs and incorporating gender-sensitive strategies in climate change adaptation efforts. Increased collaboration between the education and climate change sectors could help close that gap and promote progress in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4, focusing on quality education, and Goal 13, focusing on climate action.

This poster reviews literature relevant to further exploring the nuanced relationship between girls’ secondary education and climate change by examining the effects of drought in Eastern and Southern Africa, with a particular focus on Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. These four countries are worth examining together, as well as independently, to demonstrate the widespread effects of climate change on girls’ education in this region of the world, and how countries facing similar challenges can learn from each other. Through conducting a survey of literature on these topics and highlighting findings unique to these four countries, this presentation explores the evidence indicating a bilateral relationship between these two areas of international development and the need for further research and collaboration between the two sectors. This poster grapples with these issues and explores the gaps in policy and practice with the aim to prompt further discussion and research in this area.

Author

• Erin Kelly-Weber, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey