Gender equality, equity and inclusion

Strengthening education systems to advance gender equality and social inclusion

While there is global progress, many marginalized children, especially girls, children with disabilities, and those in poverty or crisis zones, still face barriers to accessing quality education and gaining benefits from it. These challenges are often worsened by social stigma, lack of infrastructure, and inadequate teacher training.

Through KIX, countries are identifying practical, evidence-based solutions to enhance education systems’  inclusiveness and gender-responsiveness. Investing in this area is critical to achieving equitable learning outcomes, supporting safe and inclusive learning environments, and ensuring that no learner is left behind.

KEY RESULTS

The Government of Zimbabwe integrated into its national education system key elements of a peer support model that helps adolescents complete secondary school and build life skills. This move was supported through evidence, sustained engagement with government and a multi-stakeholder Scaling Advisory Committee that was part of the Scaling a Youth-Led Social Support and Mentorship Program to Improve Quality of Education for Marginalized Girls in Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe project. The participatory research also played a crucial role by facilitating evidence-based dialogue and fostering strategic partnerships, which helped build government confidence and advance inclusive education reform.

Togo acted on the findings and outcomes of the Data Must Speak About Positive Deviance Approaches to Learning project by integrating GEI into its research tools, a move that helped it identify socio-economic disparities and challenges to girls’ access to education. The country also abolished tuition fees for certain student demographics in response to findings from the Using Data for Improving Education Equity and Inclusion — MICS-EAGLE project, thereby helping to improve access to education.