Education Access & Equity
Learning and healing through play in humanitarian crises
In a world defined by its interconnectedness, we are witnessing escalating fragility and vulnerability. The climate crisis, the rise of authoritarianism, entrenched socioeconomic disparities, and the enduring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have collectively brought education systems to a critical juncture. These challenges, compounded by longstanding gender-based structural and social barriers, are significantly undermining learning opportunities and future prospects for a majority of girls and young women across the Global South. Considering these multifaceted issues, a critical question arises: How can we strengthen education systems to ensure more resilient and equitable futures for youth—especially girls—worldwide?
On December 4, the Center for Universal Education (CUE) hosted the Research and Policy Symposium on Gender Equality in and through Education. The event opened with a plenary discussion among the Echidna Global Scholars, focusing on the lived experiences of girls and young women in the Global South. This discussion served as a platform to rethink local and global narratives around education systems transformation. The scholars, drawing from their extensive research, explored a variety of critical themes: gender-transformative climate education in Bhutan, a decolonial framework for comprehensive sexuality education in Egypt, strengthening the agency of socioeconomically marginalized adolescent girls in India, and pathways for school re-entry for teenage mothers in refugee settlements in Uganda. Through these discussions, the symposium aimed to delve into the systemic challenges faced by young people often sidelined in political and socioeconomic contexts, and highlight feasible pathways for creating more resilient and gender-equal futures.
As a follow-up to the symposium, the Echidna scholars will host virtual workshops on their specific research areas on Dec 5 and 6. See the agenda below for more details and registration links.
Viewers can submit questions for speakers by emailing [email protected] or via Twitter/X at @BrookingsGlobal by using #EchidnaSymposium.
Agenda
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December 4
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Welcome
Rebecca Winthrop Director - Center for Universal Education, Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development @RebeccaWinthrop -
Panel discussion
Moderator
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Virtual workshop discussions
For those interested in delving deeper into the scholars’ individual research, CUE hosred for virtual workshop discussions on December 5 and 6:
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December 5
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Gender-transformative climate literacy for Bhutan’s sustainable and resilient futures: Implications for policy and practice
December 5
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Gender-transformative climate literacy addresses the root causes of gender inequalities, challenging gender norms and stereotypes while equipping youth with climate skills and knowledge. It recognizes the gendered impacts of climate change and seeks to empower individuals to take climate action regardless of gender roles. Bhutan has progressed in climate, education, and gender equality as separate fields. How can the country break sectoral silos and create policies and frameworks for education systems that are both climate-informed and gender-transformative?
Registration link: http://bit.ly/3SFOWKo
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School reentry for pregnant teenage girls and young mothers in Uganda’s refugee and host communities
December 5
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Teenage pregnancy continues to hinder the right to education for girls worldwide. In Uganda’s refugee and host community settlements, teenage pregnancy has led to girls being pushed out of school, with subsequently limited opportunities for re-enrollment. This kind of school pushout affects learning opportunities and life prospects for thousands of refugee girls and young women. As Uganda’s government and the global community seek to prioritize educational outcomes for forcibly displaced youth, how can policy and practice better respond to existing barriers and address the educational needs of pregnant girls and teenage mothers in refugee settings?
Registration link: https://bit.ly/3uio6hv
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December 6
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Strengthening girls’ agency and voices: How adolescent girls are breaking ecosystem barriers and creating feminist futures
December 6
9:00 am - 10:30 am
India is home to 120 million girls, a significant portion of the world’s adolescent female population. Many of these girls face a multitude of socioeconomic and cultural barriers which negatively impact their educational opportunities and intergenerational life outcomes. These barriers can culminate in a “cycle : When girls are denied their rights, their agency is weakened, their opportunities are limited, and the cycle is likely to continue affecting generations to come. How can policies and programs for adolescent girls address these existing barriers to equity, creating safe spaces for them to strengthen the exercise of their agency and design more feminist futures?
Registration link: https://bit.ly/49B9mu8
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Addressing power dynamics: Toward a decolonial Comprehensive Reproductive Health Education Curriculum for Egypt's youth
December 6—Arabic translation available
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
The Ministry of Education in Egypt has committed to developing a curricular framework for Reproductive Health and Population Studies—what is globally known as Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE). This is a vital change, as Egyptian youth currently receive only one sexual and reproductive health lesson in 13 years of schooling. Schools and education policy serve an important purpose in the development of youth attitudes and outcomes, providing a platform to reimagine a gender-equitable future and more just systems. How can a decolonial CSE framework, which centers local knowledge, voices, and actors, create more impactful multi-stakeholder partnerships and enable gender-transformative education?
Registration link: https://bit.ly/3ucY6DT
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