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Global Accountability Dashboard for Gender Equality in and through Education launch
Since the United Nations Secretary-General’s Transforming Education Summit in September 2022, governments, civil society organizations, researchers and development partners have been working hand-in-hand through the Global Platform for Gender Equality in and through Education. This multi-stakeholder Platform has developed the Global Accountability Dashboard to monitor actions against the commitments outlined in the Summit’s Call to Action on gender equality.
“We have to transform the culture. The problem with differences is when they become inequalities. Transformative education shows us how we can benefit from differences and build more equal societies,” said Leonardo Garnier, Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General on the Transforming Education Summit.
Advancing the transformative vision of TES
Panellists at the launch shared how they are driving efforts to advance the transformative vision of the Summit in the communities in which they work.
Eliane El Haber, a youth education activist from Lebanon and member of the SDG4Youth and Student Network, emphasized the need to train teachers to promote gender equality and expand lifelong learning for all, underlining that “gender equality is an issue for society, not just for girls and women”. As Nikki Stoddart, Deputy-Director for Scholarships, Tertiary Education and UN Partnerships at the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, underlined the importance of ensuring that efforts reach the most marginalized communities. She noted that the UK’s International Women and Girls Strategy 2023-2030 is based on “the three Es: Educating girls, Empowering women and girls and championing their health and rights, and Ending gender-based violence”.
Speaking on behalf of Namibia’s Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, Deputy Director for Schools and Formal Education, Edda Bohn, highlighted the rising challenge of addressing boys’ disengagement from education while continuing to combat harmful gender norms that impede girls’ and women’ participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She emphasized the importance of collaboration with stakeholders such as “the local business community, which has promoted scholarships for girls and outreach activities”.
Highlighting the importance of evidence-based action, Population Council’s Maria Buitrago presented the Global Accountability Dashboard, which provides data and curated information on gender-transformative policies, plans, legislation, and programmes for education in 193 countries.
The Global Accountability Dashboard complements and deepens the Transforming Education Summit’s Dashboard of Country Commitments and Actions to Transform Education, which monitors countries’ actions against the national statements of commitment they made at the Summit.
The Global Platform for Gender Equality in and through Education, which is co-led by UNESCO and UNICEF, builds on the momentum spurred by the Summit – emphasizing collaboration, coordination, shared learning, and youth and civil society activism. It aims to answer three questions: Are we on track with our global commitments? Are we realizing transformative actions and addressing gaps in service provision and financing? And what evidence do we have on what works?
This event was co-organized by UNESCO, the Population Council and UNICEF.
