Prioritising Girls' Education: Key Insights from the First Pan-African Conference in Ethiopia

What is AU PANCOGEd1?

The African Union International Centre for Girls and Women’s Education in Africa (African Union CIEFFA) hosted the African Union’s 1st Pan African Conference on Girls and Women’s Education (AU PANCOGEd1).

The conference, held from July 2nd to 5th, 2024, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was themed “Prioritizing Girls and Women’s Education: A Strategy for Increased Access to Inclusive, Lifelong, Quality, and Relevant Learning in Africa. This significant conference that gathered over 500 individuals in person and 300+ virtually took place as part of the AU Year of Education and builds on the growing concern that girls need to be prioritised for Africa, the world with the highest number of young people, to prosper.

Girls Not Brides was represented at the conference by two staff members and a young researcher from Burkina Faso, as part of the Education Out Loud project.

During the conference, participants assessed the status of girls’ and women’s education in Africa, explored ways to accelerate the implementation of gender-responsive education policy frameworks, and amplified the African Union Campaign #AfricaEducatesHer.

"The AU demonstrated its commitment to promoting and empowering girls through quality education, aligning with the implementation of its member states' commitments to Agenda 2063, the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA) 16-25 and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) - all of which contribute to Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5.

Why Girls' Education is Crucial for Ending Child Marriage?

We cannot discuss child marriage without addressing education. Both child marriage and girls’ lack of access to quality education stem from gender inequality and the belief that girls and women are less valuable than boys and men. There is a two-way link between the two and decisions around them are complex and influenced by a variety of factors.

Keeping girls in school is one of the best ways of delaying marriage. On average, the likelihood of a girl marrying as a child is six percentage points less for every additional year she stays in secondary education.

The world is continuing to witness the devastating consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic where and thousands of girls across the continent were affected by school closures and were therefore exposed to more gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, adolescent pregnancy and forced marriage.

With this in mind, it is clear that education is a powerful path to gender equality, strengthening girls' skills, knowledge and power to challenge discriminatory gender norms.

Insights from the Conference

During the ministerial panel, Girls Not Brides made a statement and delivered crucial recommendations on addressing school gender related based violence in school and highlighting the pivotal role of education in preventing child marriage.

The statement highlighted the context in Sub-Saharan Africa, characterised by cycles of violence exacerbated by negative social norms and cultural beliefs that normalise abuse against women and girls. These violations undermine the right to education, contribute to school drop-out rates and have serious psychological and physical consequences for the victims. In the absence of appropriate measures, they also entail significant costs for education systems. In light of abuse and high drop-out rates, children face further vulnerability and face an even higher probability of being married before the age of 18. Strengthened legal systems are one way of addressing both SRGBV and child marriage.

During the conference, Girls Not Brides held a side event with key regional partners. The session focused on the results of research methods and approaches for CScoOs’ collective action and advocacy to ensure that the interlinked problems of child marriage and girls’ lack of access to education and retention, remain a priority at local, national, regional and international levels.

The 1st Pan African Conference on Girls and Women’s Education was a key moment to strengthen our partnerships with members and partners in the Africa region. We look forward to supporting the AU Year of Education campaign through the support we provide to our members across the region through advocating for education policies and legal frameworks that will promote girls’ access to quality education. Look out for the summary of this event in our next issue!

Practical recommendations to address school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV)

• Addressing SRGBV requires a global and multidimensional approach. At the level of decision-makers, our governments must develop and implement comprehensive policies that explicitly prohibit all forms of violence in schools, including corporal punishment of both girls and boys. In addition, we need to put in place confidential and accessible reporting mechanisms that allow students and staff to report incidents without fear of reprisal.
• Ministries of Education should provide mandatory training for teachers, administrators and other school staff on SRGBV to ensure that they are well equipped to deal with issues that may arise.
• Robust data collection systems and feedback mechanisms need to be put in place to gather regular feedback from pupils, parents and teachers on the effectiveness of interventions.
• Parents, community members and religious & traditional leaders need to be involved in awareness-raising programmes that challenge harmful social norms and encourage positive attitudes towards gender equality.
• Collaborative work needs to be adopted with other ministries, such as health, social services and justice, as this holistic and multi-sectoral approach will provide a coordinated response to SRGBV. In addition, strong partnerships with NGOs and international organisations specialising in SRGBV is needed to leverage resources, training and promote best practices.
• Youth involvement is central to these efforts. Active engagement of young people contributes to eradicating SRGBV and promoting a culture of respect and equity.

Summary