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Adapting programming to combat educational disruptions and increase agency and resilience for girls in fragile settings

Sun, February 19, 9:45 to 11:15am EST (9:45 to 11:15am EST), Grand Hyatt Washington, Floor: Independence Level (5B), Independence F

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The COVID-19 pandemic has created widespread educational disruptions: globally, schools were fully closed for an average of 20 weeks in the first two years of the pandemic, and partial closures resulted in an additional 21 weeks of missed schooling on average (UNESCO, 2022). McKinsey (2022) estimates that students globally are eight months behind in learning, compared to where they would be without the pandemic.

These impacts are even worse in sub-Saharan Africa, where many countries were experiencing educational disruptions even before COVID-19. For example, in Zimbabwe, 4.6 million children and adolescents lost access to education for more than six months in 2020 when schools closed due to COVID-19 (OCHA, 2020). Intermittent lockdowns, prolonged school closures, and mobility restrictions since then have continued to stress the education system, which was already stretched before the pandemic by economic crises, hyperinflation, and weather-related natural disasters. It is expected that the effects of the pandemic and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe will exacerbate learning loss and inequalities in education especially for marginalized populations, including girls, children with disabilities, and those living in poverty (OCHA, 2020).

In Somalia, more than half of the children eligible for schooling are not attending, a situation which has been particularly affected by political instability and severe drought (Federal Government of Somalia, 2022). The ongoing drought puts 420,000 children at risk of dropping out of school, adding to the three million children who are already out-of-school in the country, one of the largest populations of out-of-school children in the world (CARE International, 2022).

Educational disruptions have a disproportionate impact on girls’ education. The Malala Fund (2020) estimated that 20 million girls in low- and middle-income countries would drop out of school due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Early indications of re-enrollment in sub-Saharan Africa show that fewer girls are returning to school compared to boys. Girls have experienced higher levels of gender-based violence, increased anxiety and depression, and increased prevalence of pregnancy due to the pandemic (Center for Strategic & International Studies, 2022). In Zimbabwe, interviewed government officials and community leaders reported a sharp rise in early marriage and teenage pregnancy as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns, which had increased girls’ vulnerability to gender-based violence and abuse (RMI, 2021). Women and girls already experienced a disproportionate burden of caregiving responsibilities due to traditional gender norms and unequal power relations at household and community levels. Findings from a 2021 Gender Analysis also indicate that women and girls, especially the most marginalized, experienced an increase in unpaid care work as a result of the pandemic (Rugube C, 2021). And in Somalia, more girls have been found to be out-of-school compared to boys, and fears of early marriage and female genital mutilation are growing (Author, 2022). Traditional gender norms means that families facing economic barriers to education tend to prioritize boys’ education (Ha & Forney, 2018), and schools – which are nearly all managed by male principals – tend to not prioritize girls’ needs in terms of female teachers, classroom practices and infrastructure (Consilient, 2020).

This panel will showcase three presentations that highlight how a gender transformative lens has been integrated into education and humanitarian programming in Somalia and Zimbabwe to mitigate education disruptions caused by protracted crises, especially for girls. In Zimbabwe, the presentation will focus on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and deteriorating economic conditions on education outcomes, while in Somalia, the presentation will highlight repeated disruptions from conflict, the worsening economy, and drought, layered on top of COVID-19. Both presentations will delve deeper into how applying gender transformative and inclusive approaches in programming – particularly through combatting harmful gender and social norms and leadership development for girls – can mitigate these educational impacts and contribute to increased agency, resilience and improved education outcomes for girls in fragile settings. The final presentation will focus on a humanitarian program in Somalia, highlighting how working at the nexus of the humanitarian and education sectors can curb the impact of educational disruptions. It will focus on the impact of cash, food security, and WASH interventions in communities that overlap with education programming, as well as the ways in which gender analyses can contribute to improving educational outcomes. All three presentations will discuss how incorporating a gender transformative lens from the onset has helped ensure girls’ education outcomes are protected, and girls’ agency and resilience are enhanced.

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