Harnessing Girls’ Education for the Africa We Want

Date: 17 November 2021
Time: 09:00 - 11:00 am GMT
Location: Mahamat Ghandi Conference Center, Niamey, Niger
Registration: African Girls’ Summit webpage

Education continues to be denied to many girls and women as a result of cultural and social norms and practices, sometimes perpetuated through customary or religious traditions, an inadequate legislative framework and weak policy implementation. Harmful gender stereotypes about appropriate roles for women and girls reinforce cultural or community level notions that education is “wasted” on girls.

While many African countries have adopted or ratified key international and regional instruments to ensure girls’ and women’s rights to education in Africa, many still face unique barriers to education, including gender-based violence, teen pregnancy, early marriage, HIV infection or limited access to remote learning and sexual reproductive health services. This parallel session, held during the 3rd African Union Girls’ Summit, will look at the legal challenges preventing girls from accessing and completing education, the benefits of gender-responsive and cross-sectoral planning and the importance of effective financing for girls’ education.

The session will be co-organized by AU-CIEFFA, UNAIDS (in collaboration with UNESCO and UNICEF), Girls Not Brides and the Global Partnership for Education. Panellists

S.E. Dr. Rabiou Ousman, Minister of Education, Niger
Mrs. Marie Evelyne Petrus, IPPF Regional Director
Mr. Eskendir Lakew, Team Leader, Women, Children and Youth Directorate, MoE, Ethiopia
Minister of Education, Togo (Tbc)
Dr. Rita Bissoonauth, Head of mission, AU/CIEFFA
Mrs. Simone Yankey-Ouattara, Senior Policy Officer, AU/CIEFFA
UNFPA or UNESCO Regional Director (Tbc)
Dr. Sihaka Tsemo, Director UNAIDS
Eline Versluys, UNGEI Secretariat
Ms. Mariama Gado, AU-CIEFFA Youth Alumni, Niger
Ms. Janice Khumalo, AU Youth Volunteer – East and South Africa
Marline Atieno Ochieng, Femnet-Kenya
Haidara Mohamed, Executive Director, Songes Niger – Girls Not Brides representative
Thomas Poirier, Senior Education Policy Analyst, IIEP

For more information, please click the link below.

URL:

https://www.globalpartnership.org/events/harnessing-girls-education-africa-we-want