Achieving Gender Equality in and through Education: The Gender at the Centre Initiative Transition from Pilot to Targeted Strategic Approach

• In Event: Empowering change through sound evidence: insights from collaborative, gender-centred applied education research in sub-Saharan Africa

Proposal

For education systems to unlock their transformative power and build gender-equal societies, systemic and coordinated action is needed. Launched in 2019 at the G7 Summit, the GCI aims to strengthen the gender mainstreaming capacities of education system stakeholders and support the development of resources to achieve gender equality in and through education. Through a dynamic partnership model, GCI implements a systems-focused, holistic approach to building gender-transformative education systems, addressing both supply and demand side barriers to gender equality. From 2020 to 2023, GCI has been implemented predominantly in 8 sub-Saharan African countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, with additional regional activities.

An independent formative evaluation of the pilot phase completed in early 2023 indicated that GCI had built a strong model to address the complex issues of gender inequalities in education:
“Even before GCI really began implementation, it changed the debate. It is exactly what the global conversation needed”

Now preparing to continue for a second phase, the GCI Programme Lead will present a revised four-part strategy for discussion:

Firstly, GCI plans to capitalize on its unique position to contribute to the growing evidence base for gender-transformative education and generate clear data and evidence for ministries and civil society so that they are better equipped to promote gender equality in and through education. Through participatory research initiatives and jointly developed tools, GCI will support education actors to gather rigorous gender data and support effective evidence-based education policies, planning and management.

Secondly, GCI intends to intensify its focus on building technical capacity and commitment at the country level. The pilot phase demonstrated the challenges ministries encounter in prioritizing gender in sector reforms and budgets in the context of competing priorities in development and/or crisis and pointed to the need to mainstream gender equality institutionally. In Phase 2, GCI will work at multiple levels to accompany governments in strengthening political will and mainstreaming gender equality in education sector policies, plans, budgets and reforms through targeted training and technical assistance.

Thirdly, GCI will contribute to the development of a strong, coordinated and active movement for gender-transformative education that holds governments and actors accountable. Phase 1 has shown that to effectively tackle resistance to gender equality and achieve sustainable change, a strong local movement for gender-transformative education, which invests in intersectoral and intergenerational partnerships, is needed. GCI will facilitate alliances of gender champions within Ministries of Education and from non-education sectors and civil society to take effective collective action.

Finally, GCI will act as a catalyst to increase demand for gender equality in and through education.
Experience from phase 1, in line with a broad consensus among education and gender specialists, showed that a sustainable impact on gender equality in and through education cannot be achieved without addressing the root causes of inequality. Working collaboratively with a range of organisations, the GCI alliance will seek to address gender norms that constrain demand for gender equality in education both within education systems and within communities.

Author

• Fabricia Devignes, UNESCO IIEP