UNESCO body holds forum on gender equality in education Oct 3

UNESCO'S International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) will host a High Level Policy Forum on “Gender equality in education: Looking beyond parity,” on October 3 and 4 in Paris, France.

According to the world body’s Media Advisory, the forum, just ahead of the World Teachers’ Day, celebrated yearly on October 5,  will focus on gender inequality in classroom achievement and on women’s leadership role in education.

The meeting will be opened by UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, Cheryl Gregory Faye, head of the Secretariat of the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Khalil Mahshi, director of IIEP. About 100 experts, ministers and education ministry representatives, gender and education experts, alongside representatives of non-governmental organisations and donors are expected to attend.

Drawing on case studies and organised in collaboration with a range of partners, the forum will examine the root causes of inequality between girls’ and boys’ school performances. Participants will also consider the quality of education, progress achieved in reducing the gender gap, and the obstacles that stand in the way of women’s ability to achieve senior leadership positions in the public sector and more specifically in education.

While gender equality in education remains a crucial issue for many countries, women still account for two thirds of the world’s illiterate population (Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO, 2011). Despite the international community’s awareness of these issues, expressed notably in Education for All Goals of the World Education Forum (Dakar, 2000) and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the majority of out-of-school children are girls.

The outcome of debates and proposals developed during the Forum will be presented at UNESCO Headquarters on October 5, on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day.

Published September 29, 2011

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