FAWCO Target Program 2016-2019
Education – Empowering Women and Girls through Knowledge and Skills
Welcome! I am glad you found your way here. This is where you will find our growing compilation of material to further your knowledge and awareness of the issues related to women's and girl's education.
In our blog, Let's Get Schooled we explore why education matters; we examine the barriers which impede women and girls from accessing quality education and completing their studies; we learn strategies to address these issues; and we discover who the leaders in world education are. Given that our Target Project addresses both educational and vocational needs of refugee women and girls, we also explore their particular struggles and examine how host countries and aid organizations are addressing the need.
On this page, you will find information and links to resources related to the following topics:
2030 Agenda for Education / SDG 4
UNESCO
Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report
Education and Gender
Education and Displaced Persons
Impact of Displacement on Girls' Education
Organizations Worth Knowing
For Visual Learners… videos & infographic
Are you passionate about women's and girl's education? If you have something to share, we welcome your contributions.
Tricia R. Saur
Target Program Chair 2016-2919
The 2030 Global Agenda for Education
Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improving people’s lives and sustainable development. - UN
SDG 4 is to ‘ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning’.
To achieve this, the UN has set seven unique and interconnected targets and three means to achieve them:
UNESCO: Education for the 21st Century
UNESCO believes that education is a human right for all throughout life and that access must be matched by quality. The Organization is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to cover all aspects of education. It has been entrusted to lead the Global Education 2030 Agenda through Sustainable Development Goal 4. The roadmap to achieve this is the Education 2030 Framework for Action (FFA).
Incheon Declaration - Framework for Action
“In our world, knowledge is power, and education empowers. It is an indispensable part of the development equation. It has intrinsic value – extending far beyond the economic – to empower people to determine their own destiny. That is why the opportunity to be educated is central to advancing human development.” - Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator
The Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report
2019 GEM Report - Migration, displacement and education: Building Bridges, Not Walls “presents evidence on the implications of different types of migration and displacement for education systems but also the impact that reforming education curricula and approaches to pedagogy and teacher preparation can have on addressing the challenges and opportunities posed by migration and displacement. It gives voice to experiences in host and home communities."
Three versions of the report are available: Full / Summary / Youth along with videos and infographics can be found on the Report Page
2017/18 GEM Report -- Accountability in Education “investigates accountability in education, analyzing how all relevant stakeholders can provide education more effectively, efficiently and equitably. The report examines different accountability mechanisms that are used to hold governments, schools, teachers, parents, the international community, and the private sector accountable for inclusive, equitable and quality education.“
Three versions of the report are available: Full / Summary / Youth along with videos and infographics can be found on the Report Page
2016 GEM Report - Education for People and Plant “shows the potential for education to propel progress towards all global goals outlined in the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs). It also shows that education needs a major transformation to fulfill that potential and meet the current challenges facing humanity and the planet. There is an urgent need for greater headway in education. On current trends, the world will achieve universal primary education in 2042, universal lower secondary education in 2059 and universal upper secondary education in 2084. This means the world would be half a century late for the 2030 SDG deadline.”
Three versions of the report are available: Full / Summary / Youth along with videos and infographics can be found on the Report Page
To explore previous reports visit https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/allreports
Education and Gender
GEM Report Gender Review 2018: Meeting our commitments to gender equality in education
“In this sixth Gender Review, in a series that began in 2011, the Global Education Monitoring Report team maintains the focus on a broad conception of gender equality that extends beyond counting boys and girls in classrooms. The review’s first part examines disparities in participation and skills, in education and political leadership positions, and in selected aspects of infrastructure and curricula. It also examines gender issues in professional development by exploring the role of education in three other SDGs: those concerning agriculture, health, and water and sanitation. The second part of the review analyses institutions, laws and policies to explore ways to determine and enforce accountability for gender equality in education.”
What Works in Girls Education: Evidence for the World’s Best Investment is a publication by the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institute in Washington D.C. In it, the authors, Gene Sperling and Rebecca Winthrop make the case that Girls Education is the best investment developing countries can make. Following decades of research they have come up with a Top 10 List of why this is true and explain investments make the most impact.
2015 Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report - Gender and EFA 2000-2015
“This Gender Report provides detailed evidence of how much has been achieved in the past 15 years towards gender parity and reducing all forms of gender inequalities in education but also where considerable – some quite intractable – challenges remain.”
Education and Displaced Persons
Turn the Tide: Refugee Education in Crisis - UNHCR 2018
This report tells the stories of some of the world’s 7.4 million refugee children of school age under UNHCR’s mandate. In addition, it looks at the educational aspirations of refugee youth eager to continue learning after secondary education, and highlights the need for strong partnerships in order to break down the barriers to education for millions of refugee children.
Education data on refugee enrolments and population numbers is drawn from UNHCR’s population database, reporting tools and education surveys and refers to 2017. The report also references global enrolment data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics referring to 2016.
Left Behind: Refugee Education in Crisis - UNHCR 2017
This report tells the stories of some of the world’s 6.4 million refugee children and adolescents under UNHCR’s mandate who are of primary and secondary school-going age, between 5 and 17. In addition, it looks at the educational aspirations of refugee youth eager to continue learning after secondary education, and examines the conditions under which those who teach refugees carry out their work.
Education data on refugee enrolments and population numbers is drawn from UNHCR’s population database, reporting tools and education surveys and refers to 2016. The report also references global enrolment data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics referring to 2015.
Promising Practices in Refugee Education is a joint initiative of Save the Children, the world’s largest independent children’s rights organisation, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, and Pearson, the world’s learning company.
Launched in March 2017, the initiative set out to identify, document and promote innovative ways to effectively reach refugee children and young people with quality educational opportunities. This report synthesises the key findings and lessons learned from across more than twenty projects that were selected as part of the initiative. Projects have been grouped under one or more of six themes.
Missing Out: Refugee Education in Crisis - UNHCR 2016
This report tells the stories of some of the world’s six million refugee children and adolescents under UNHCR’s mandate who are of primary and secondary school-going age between 5 and 17. In addition, it looks at the educational aspirations of refugee youth eager to continue learning after secondary education.
Education data on refugee enrolments and population numbers is drawn from UNHCR’s population data base, reporting tools and education surveys. The data refers to the 2015-16 school year. The report also references global enrolment data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics referring to 2014.
Losing out on Learning - Save the Children 2016
Is a report by Save the Children which assesses progress in implementing the education-related commitments made in the New York Declaration on Migrants and Refugees and at the 2016 Leaders’ Summit on Refugees.
It calls for countries to keep their promises to get refugee children back into school by:
1. Ensuring that there is enough funding to help already poor countries hosting large refugee populations to provide refugee children with a quality education. Currently refugee education gets only a fraction of the funding it needs.
2. Asking refugee-hosting countries to implement policies to ensure refugee children can attend school and learn from a quality education.
By keeping our promise to get all refugee children back into school we can help ensure that every last refugee child has a future.
“The first years of life are the most critical for a child’s development, laying the foundation for years to come.1 During these years chronic malnutrition, poor health, lack of mental stimulation, abuse, neglect and toxic stress can impair the healthy development of both body and brain, with long-term consequences on a child’s health, learning, and behaviour.2 What science now tells us about the rst few months and years of life in particular demonstrates clearly how important comprehensive Early Childhood Development (ECD) services are not only to children, but also to families, communities and economies.”
Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies INEE serves its members through community building, convening diverse stakeholders, knowledge management, advocating and amplifying ideas and knowledge, facilitating collective action, and providing members with the resources and support they need to carry out their work on education in emergencies. INEE is shaped by these functions; all of its work can be classified by one or more of these functions.
Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is the first global movement and fund dedicated to education in emergencies and protracted crises. ECW was established during the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 by international humanitarian and development aid actors, along with public and private donors, to help reposition education as a priority on the humanitarian agenda.
Launched in 2013, the No Lost Generation Initiative is an ambitious commitment to action by humanitarians, donors and policy to support children and youth affected by the Syria and Iraq crisis. Covering the crises inside Syria and Iraq, as well as the refugee hosting countries in the region (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey).
Impact of Displacement on Girls' Education
Mitigating Threats to Girls’ Education in Conflict-Affected Contexts ) UNGEI 2017
This review complements existing literature on education in conflict-affected contexts by shining a spotlight on practices that have supported girls’ access to education. Promising approaches to support girls’ education can overcome or mitigate the multiple threats girls face in conflict settings
The Women's Refugee Commission improves the lives and protects the rights of women, children and youth displaced by conflict and crisis. We research their needs, identify solutions and advocate for programs and policies to strengthen their resilience and drive change in humanitarian practice. Since our founding in 1989, we have been a leading expert on the needs of refugee women and children, and the policies that can protect and empower them.
UN Women (Jordan) is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.
Organizations and Initiatives Worth Knowing
“Global Partnership for Education supports 65 developing countries to ensure that every child receives a quality basic education, prioritizing the poorest, most vulnerable and those living in countries affected by fragility and conflict.”
The Brookings Institute
Center for Universal Education
“Founded in 2002, the Center for Universal Education is one of the leading policy centers focused on universal quality education particularly in the developing world. We develop and disseminate effective solutions for quality education and skills development. We envision a world where all children and youth have the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century. The center plays a critical role in influencing the development of policy related to global education and promotes actionable strategies for governments, civil society and private enterprise.”
Brown Center on Education Policy
“The mission of the Brown Center on Education Policy, housed in the Governance Studies program at Brookings, is to produce quality, independent research that impacts the efficiency of schools and the lives of all students. Brown Center experts use the best tools available from the quantitative social sciences to bring data-based evidence to bear on education policy discussions in a timely manner. Thus, the Brown Center occupies a unique niche by bringing scientific sensibilities and methods to the issues of the day in education policy.”
Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, Room to Read’s innovative model focuses on deep, systemic transformation within schools in low-income communities during two time periods that are most critical in a child’s schooling: early primary school for literacy acquisition and secondary school for girls’ education. We work in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations, and governments to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children and ensure girls can complete secondary school with the skills necessary to negotiate key life decisions. Room to Read has benefited 16.6 million children across more than 30,000 communities in 16 countries.
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