COVER: ©UN/DPI Photo by Eskinder Debebe

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ACCELERATINGPROGRESS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION

Out-of-school girls need our attention now. TheMillennium Development Goal to eliminate genderdisparity in primary and secondary educationpreferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015, cannotbecome another unkept promise. Coming up shortwill call into question the sincerity of the pledgemade by all the world’s governments and condemnyet another generation of girls to ignorance andpoverty. Every year a girl is denied her right to educa-tion increases her risk of being exploited and abused,and her vulnerability to disease, including HIV/AIDS.

Yet if we fulfil our promise, we could transformour world. Every year a girl is educated is a steptowards eliminating poverty, advancing humandevelopment, and stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS.Accelerating progress in girls’ education will alsoget boys in school. It will promote the values oftolerance, equality and mutual respect, providingall children a chance to grow up with health, peaceand dignity.

25 BY 2005

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A global campaign toachieve gender parity ineducation by 2005:

At the same time, UNICEFcontinues to work to increasepopular support for girls’education in all countriesaround the world.

• A pioneering collaboration

between UNICEF, governments,

United Nations partners, civil

society and the private sector

• A partnership in which UNICEF

is ‘accompanying’ countries

and partner agencies through

all stages of the process

• A call to action in 25 countries

to maximize the number of

girls in school by 2005

• A commitment to educate

every girl so she may assume

her rightful place as an active

participant in her country's

development

WHY

GIRLS?Girls make up the majority of

the more than 121 million

children out of school. Theirnumbers increase in times ofconflict, social crisis, poverty and natural disasters.

Girls’ education is a human

rights issue and the obligation

of all governments. For UNICEF,ensuring the right to education,for girls as well as boys, is botha moral and social imperative.

Girls are in double jeopardy

because they are disadvantaged

within groups that are already

discriminated against, such as

rural populations or the poor.

Girls' education is a core devel-

opment issue. Educated womenare key to breaking the cycle ofinter-generational poverty.

Investments in girls’ education

— particularly those directed to

improving the quality of educa-

tion — also benefit boys. Thereverse is not always the case.

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HOW?

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TAKING A

PROACTIVE

STANCE

UNICEF is consolidating nearlysix decades of experience andthe expertise of our partners –other United Nations agencies,the academic community andhundreds of non-governmentalorganizations – to identify out-of-school girls and get them into the classroom.

This means taking interventionsthat we know work and applyingthem to individual communities.Many of the measures are practical, such as creating doubleshifts in existing schools, makingsmall rural schools viable throughmultigrade teaching, operating‘mobile schools’ for nomadiccommunities or ‘tent schools’ inemergency situations, and usingincentives for enrolment andattendance. The goal is to targetinterventions more effectivelyand help countries take them toscale. The lessons learned fromthe 25 pilot countries will beapplied to other countries untilall the world's children, girls as

well as boys, enjoy their right toa quality education. UNICEF isproviding a customized packageof resources to support countriesso that they can identify, imple-ment and scale up interventionsto get results.

This resource package will help

countries:

• Customize their interventions• Build country-level capacities

and partnerships• Address their emerging needs

through guidance, technicalnotes, networking and ‘rapidresponse mechanisms’

• Mobilize community support • Strengthen problem-solving

capacities • Create a databank of resource

persons, physical assets andreference materials

• Build action teams to solveproblems and keep initiativeson track

• Implement short-term meauresand incentives while buildinglong-term solutions.

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ACCOMPANYING

COUNTRIES

Countries must take the lead inmeeting their education goals.But governments sometimesneed help – and not just withfunding. UNICEF is prepared to ‘accompany’ countries in achieving their goals throughcontinuous and long-term support. This means sharingtheir vision and objectives, while providing constructive support for advocacy and change,where needed. It is about beinginvolved in the daily decision-making and problem-solving that national officials and localcommunities will invariably face.

The concept of accompanyingcountries does not imply thatUNICEF intends to adopt a policyof acting alone. On the contrary,it means that UNICEF will coordi-nate and collaborate with partneragencies, donors, civil societyand the private sector as theyproceed to do what they do best.

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MOBILIZING

SUPPORT

A sea change in social attitudes,policy direction and programmesupport is needed to eliminate

gender disparity in primary andsecondary education. A nationalethos of ‘no girl out of school’must be created so that everyoneis concerned about girls notattending school and everyone isactively engaged in the movement to educate all children.

Success depends upon advocacyat all levels to:

• Create a groundswell of localdemand for open budgets,transparency and governmentaccountability

• Transform political will intogovernment action to fulfil theirobligations on girls’ educationand ensure that this is reflectedin national plans and budgets

• Mobilize financial resourcesand donor commitment to girls’education

• Create synergy with other ini-tiatives, such as the EducationFor All Fast-Track Initiative ledby the World Bank.

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NURTURING

PARTNERSHIPS

Local, national and internationalpartnerships are vital to improveplanning, coordination and thedelivery of services for girls’education.

Effective coordination is espe-cially crucial at the country levelto ensure that resources are not

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wasted and that local interven-tions complement one anotherin a way that maximizes results.To strengthen and expand coun-try-level partnerships, we are:

• Building on existing mechanismsand networks, particularly thosethat function well and are familiarto those working in the country

• Taking mechanisms such as theUnited Nations Girls’ EducationInitiative to the country leveland broadening them toinclude multilateral and bilater-al donors, civil society and the private sector

• Building on lessons learned in34 countries from the AfricanGirls Education Initiative andadapting them in Asia.

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ADOPTING A

MULTISECTORAL

APPROACH

UNICEF is promoting a new andmore cohesive approach to servicedelivery that crosses multiplesectors and uses gender as alens to accelerate progress ongirls’ education. It is UNICEF’sexperience that integratedactions across a range of sectorsyield the greatest results. Forexample, interventions in healthand nutrition will not onlyimprove a child’s chances of survival and sound develop-ment, but they will also contributeto better performance in school.

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INTEGRATEDACTIONS GETRESULTS

IMPACT ON EDUCATION

In many countries, HIV/AIDSis having a catastrophic effecton the demand for education,on the supply of education,and on the quality of education.Yet education is also our singlemost effective weapon inpreventing HIV/AIDS andameliorating its impact onchildren and young people.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Ensure that HIV/AIDS is notsimply addressed in the curricu-lum or through peer counsellingand school clubs. This meanstransforming schools into bastionsagainst HIV/AIDS by implementinga raft of measures that will alterthe culture of schooling so thatchildren feel protected, supportedand confident. This will not onlyimprove the quality of schooling,but will also combat the epidemic.

HIV/AIDS

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IMPACT ON EDUCATION

For many young children,especially girls in rural, disadvan-taged communities, householdchores and income-generatingtasks become a part of theirdaily routine. Once such routinesare ingrained, it becomes difficultto introduce schooling into achild’s life. This is a major reasonwhy many children are not sentto school at an appropriate ageor not sent at all.

THE RHYTHM OFSCHOOLING

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Provide quality, community-based early childhood care.By ensuring that a child spendsa few hours each day in someform of early learning, we are,in effect, reserving a place forschooling in the child’s dailyroutine. Starting school becomeseasier since it does not crowdout other established activities.At the same time, early childhoodcare helps to introduce therhythm of schooling – regularattendance at designated times –into a child’s life at an early age.

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WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Use nutrition and health interventions as incentivesfor enrolment and to improve learning. These could includeschool meals, routine healthchecks, growth monitoring,micronutrient programmes andworm eradication. Moreover,children can become guardiansof their own health and that oftheir family by learning abouthealth and nutrition in school.

HEALTH AND NUTRITION

IMPACT ON EDUCATION

Too many children are deniedthe proper health care and nutrition they need to preparetheir minds and bodies to learn.

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WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Ensure that every primary schoolis equipped with separate facili-ties for boys and girls, and thatevery school, without exception,has a source of safe drinkingwater. Schools should alsoteach children skills to sustain a hygienic and healthy lifestyle,which they in turn can pass onto their families and communities.

WATERENVIRONMENTSANITATION

IMPACT ON EDUCATION

Water and sanitation facilities in schools can be critical factorsin determining whether children,especially girls, attend schooland complete their education.When present, such facilitiesallow children their dignity and privacy. In addition, they promote good hygiene and children’s general well-being. Yet many schools have verypoor facilities.

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IMPACT ON EDUCATION

Violence or sexual abuse inschools can prevent children,especially girls, from enrollingand contribute to absenteeismand poor classroom performance.Where schools offer a safe andsecure learning environment,children can learn skills thatprotect them from violence,abuse and exploitation and offera real alternative to child labour.They can also provide a refugefor those who are already beingexploited or who have lost a primary caregiver to HIV/AIDS or other causes.

CHILD PROTECTION

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Schools and other learningspaces have to be safe andsecure for children to learn.Teachers need the support andskills to make this happen.Education has to be made avail-able to all children without discrimination.

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WHAT SUCCESS WILL LOOK LIKE

• All girls and boys in qualityschools all the time.

• No more gender discrimination.

• We know that obstacles can beovercome – even in the mostdifficult of circumstances.

• In Afghanistan in 1999, UNICEFstarted home schools whengirls were prohibited fromattending public school. Aftertwo years, home schools werereaching 58,000 Afghan children,both girls and boys. UNICEF,with partner agencies, thenassisted the new Afghan government to get over 3million children back in schoolwithin a year.

• In violence-ridden Colombia,11,000 children are enrolled in ‘child-friendly’ schools –havens of safety that are also welcoming and effectivelearning environments.

• In Ethiopia, community out-reach and teacher training ledto a 14 per cent increase in theprimary school enrolment ofgirls in just one year.

• In the Syrian Arab Republic,nearly 3,000 adolescent girlsare attending ‘back to school’classes that provide disadvan-taged girls with basic educationin half the usual time.

• Success is taking examples likethese and multiplying them athousandfold in countriesaround the world.

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GETTINGTHERE

For UNICEF, setting goals is animportant step to reaching them.Our objectives for 2003–2005:

For the 25 countries:

• Make girls’ education a priorityin national education plans

• Provide more opportunities forlearning for girls out of school

• Increase water, sanitation,health care, school meals andother services that will improvethe learning environment andstudent’s capacities

• Increase the number andquality of teachers and otherlearning resources

• Mainstream and scale-upsuccessful initiatives in girls’education.

In all countries:

• Secure strong political commit-ment to girls’ education andgender equity

• Engage all partners in an advo-cacy campaign to get moregirls in school and providethem with the support theyneed to stay there

• Involve civil society in planning,budgeting, implementing andmonitoring girls’ education

• Make schools safe havens and centres of communityempowerment

• Link up with major educationinitiatives that promote positivereform.

WE INVITE countries and partner agenciesaround the world to join us.

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25 ACCELERATION

COUNTRIES

AFGHANISTAN

BANGLADESH

BENIN

BHUTAN

BOLIVIA

BURKINA FASO

CENTRAL AFRICAN

REPUBLIC

CHAD

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

OF THE CONGO

DJIBOUTI

ERITREA

ETHIOPIA

GUINEA

INDIA

MALAWI

MALI

NEPAL

NIGERIA

PAKISTAN

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

SUDAN

TURKEY

UNITED REPUBLIC

OF TANZANIA

YEMEN

ZAMBIA

“If we hope to create apeaceful tomorrow thenproviding girls and boys anequal chance for qualitybasic education is our onlychoice today.”

Carol Bellamy Executive Director United Nations Children’s Fund