In Solidarity with Girls: Intergenerational dialogues
Hey readers,
It’s your UNGEI sisters Gloria & Natasha here.
School closures due to COVID-19 are impacting young people’s lives around the world. The pandemic is affecting women and men differently — but also boys, girls, and those with diverse gender identities. We also know that the pandemic is making gender inequalities worse.
Ministries of education, multilateral organisations, and civil society are working around the clock to continue providing learning and education opportunities to the most vulnerable children, and girls in particular. They are also working to ensure girls will be able to return to school.
The COVID-19 education response must engage youth-led and youth-centred networks as partners.
Over the past two months, we have spoken to young people across the world and have learned about the innovative ways they are responding to this crisis. We are supporting youth to influence and meaningfully participate in the education response to COVID-19 through a series of intergenerational dialogues on gender and education in crisis.
Read on to find out more…
Rewind to February…
The Platform for Girls’ Education launched a report on transformative political leadership to drive progress towards our goal: 12 years of quality education for all girls. The report showed an urgent need for sustained commitment from political leaders if we are to achieve SDG4 by 2030. The report also highlights the importance of youth engagement in policy development and dialogue.
…into March…
In the midst of the global crisis, the need for collective action became more urgent than ever. Nationwide school closures and restrictions on mobility were impacting the education, livelihoods and safety of children and youth everywhere, and young womxn and girls in particular.
At the UN Girls’ Education Initiative, we began working with the UK government to coordinate a series of intergenerational dialogues. These dialogues would be held with Platform members and other high-level leaders and young womxn activists to facilitate the meaningful inclusion of youth voices in the global policy response to COVID-19. We started contacting Platform members, gender equality in education leaders and young advocates from both youth-led networks and youth-serving organisations.
….to the present.
Here we are. It’s May and we have our first intergenerational dialogue scheduled! We are excited to be joined by Platform member Henrietta Fore, the Executive Director of UNICEF, who will take part in a virtual meeting with four young womxn activists: Zaynab, Muzoon, Fatu and Sodfa.
Each brings a different regional perspective, lived experience and a wealth of knowledge on the gendered impacts of girls being out of school. This dialogue will be followed by others, so watch this space!
These dialogues will enable youth to participate meaningfully in the COVID-19 education response. The young advocates will produce follow-up recommendations after each dialogue, which will be used to strategically influence the work that CSOs, governments and funders are doing to respond to COVID-19.
Overall, the series aims to highlight that the actors represented in each dialogue — high level leaders, young advocates and grassroots mobilisers — must continue to consult and work together as partners in order to advance gender equality in education, during and beyond this crisis.
Stand with us in solidarity with the young people working to put gender at the forefront of the COVID-19 education response.
Intergenerational dialogues to date:
1.Tuesday 12th May, 11:00 EDT
Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF and member of the Platform for Girls’ Education
Theme: Opening up better and getting girls back to school — watch back here.
2. Thursday 21st May, 10:00 EDT
Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, CEO Plan International and girls’ education champion
Theme: Rebuilding the “new normal” in education post COVID-19 — watch back here.
3. Thursday 28th May, 07:45 EDT
Julia Gillard, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Partnership for Education and member of the Platform for Girls’ Education
Baroness Sugg, UK Special Envoy for Girls’ Education and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development (DFID)
Theme: COVID-19 and Girls’ Education: A tale of two futures — watch back here.
How to get involved:
The recordings from each dialogue will be posted on UNGEI’s YouTube channel. Subscribe now!
Stay connected through our social media channels to get updates, watch and share clips from the dialogue recordings.
Follow us on Instagram @ungirlseducation — we will collect questions from our youth network to be addressed through the dialogues.
