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UNESCO laureates echo call for urgent investment in girls’ and women’s education in Africa

The private costs due to girls and boys leaving school early are higher for girls, equal to around US$190 billion and US$210 billion, respectively, states UNESCO’s recently published “The price of inaction” report.

Representatives of the five African laureate organizations of the UNESCO Prize

12 August 2024

Last update:3 October 2024

Sub-Saharan Africa bears the highest economic burden internationally due to early school leavers and children with less than basic skills. The private costs (costs borne by individuals) due to girls and boys leaving school early are higher for girls, equal to around US$190 billion and US$210 billion, respectively, states UNESCO’s recently published “The price of inaction” report.

At the first Pan-African Conference on Girls’ and Women’s Education held in Addis Ababa from 2 to 5 July, which brought together ministers, policy-makers, civil society, and multilateral organizations, the emphasis was on the critical need for immediate resources in education.

Conference participants supported the call to action for investing in education particularly for girls. Among the participants were the laureates of the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education (GWE) from five African countries.

During the conference Aïcha Bah Diallo, a founding member of the GWE Prize’s international jury stressed the Prize’s role in advocating for increased action to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and more specifically goals 4 (Quality Education) and 5 (Gender Equality). Addressing the laureates from Egypt, Kenya, Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zimbabwe she said, “I encourage you to raise your collective voice as laureates to call for the investment and policy changes that your organizations – and the girls’ and women you serve – need”.

“We need partnerships to be able to scale up, do new things in new ways, especially when it comes to long-term sustainability planning and scaling up,” said Monica Swai from Tanzania’s Girls Livelihood and Mentorship Initiative (GLAMI).

The laureates highlighted the importance of the African Union’s Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Education in Africa (AU CIEFFA) in bringing together stakeholders across the continent and the Prize’s empowering effect on their organizations.

Calling for sustainable partnerships and flexible funding for NGOs Ms Swai said, “this would also allow NGOs to undertake the research and data collection needed to ensure programmes are innovative and evidence based. We know that a lack of flexibility leaves organizations like ours doing the same things, in the same ways. This limits effectiveness when it comes to innovation, scaling up and sustainability of our programmes.”

The laureates shared examples of successful collaborations with community leaders, parents, and policymakers to change cultural norms and remove barriers for girls to education. Hala El Shahed from Egypt’s Misr El Kheir Foundation emphasized the importance of “teamwork in driving systemic changes for gender equality”.

The conference participants also called for generating gender-disaggregated data, promoting women’s leadership in education, closing the gender gap in digital literacy, adopting of the #AfricaEducatesHer campaign and holding biennial AU PANCOGED conferences.