UNITED NATIONS GIRLS EDUCATION INITIATIVE

Statement by UNGEI on the deaths of aid workers in Afghanistan
NEW YORK, USA, 13 August 2008 - The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) is deeply saddened by the killing in Afghanistan of four aid workers, three women and their driver, from the International Rescue Committee (IRC).  We strongly condemn the attack on these committed individuals, who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of the people in Afghanistan, especially children. We offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims at this difficult time.

Commonwealth study looks at classrooms and other aspects of schooling processes in 30 schools across seven countries
More work needs to be done on ‘school processes’ if the objectives of Education for All and the gender-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are to become a reality, according to new Commonwealth research.

UNESCO publishes The Right to Education: Monitoring standard-setting instruments of UNESCO
4 August 2008 - UNESCO emphasizes the right to education as an internationally recognized right and its establishment in a number of standard-setting instruments adopted by the United Nations and by UNESCO.

Runners’ efforts keep hundreds of girls in school
LONDON, England, 15 July 2008 - A team of 16 runners braved wind and rain to take part in the British 10K London Run on Sunday, 6 July for Camfed. So far the intrepid team has raised more than £11,000 for girls in Africa, which is enough to buy 1,466 pairs of school shoes.

Global collaboration for early childhood development
NEW YORK, New York, 10 July 2008 – Among the global early childhood community, the focus on establishing and implementing standards for learning and development is growing. These statements may be referred to as benchmarks, guidelines or standards. But they all articulate what nations hope their children will know and be able to do during their early years.  When linked to standards for teachers and programmes – and used to support teachers, monitor children’s progress or improve curricula – learning and development standards foster a fully integrated approach to early education and development.

Special podcast: Women and girls tell their stories through film and radio documentaries
NEW YORK, USA, 3 June 2008 – Click here to listen to a UNICEF Radio podcast discussion on documentaries about women and girls in southern Africa.

‘Gender and Equity’ campaign shows success, as more parents are putting girls through school
ATENTOU, Togo, 20 May 2008 – According to her school principal in Atentou, 12-year-old Céline is a model student. Four years ago, along with some 60,000 Togolese children, Céline went back to school as part of the UNICEF programme ‘Gender and Equity’. She is still in school today.

75 million children out of school, according to new UIS data
16 May 2008 - The number of primary-school-age children not in school fell by 2 million worldwide between 2005 and 2006, according to new estimates published by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).

3000 visit UNESCO’s online forum on inclusive education
5 May 2008 - “Inclusion and quality education are two indivisible Education for All (EFA) priorities”, writes Nicholas Burnett, UNESCO’s Assistant-Director General for Education, in his contribution to the Organization’s online discussion forum. “Inclusion means responding to the diverse needs of all learners”.

Africa’s Finance Ministers Look at Education as Opportunity, Not as Expenditure
Washington, April 17, 2008 – The Education for All Fast Track Initiative is a global international partnership with the objective of ensuring accelerated progress towards the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015.

Statement by Cheryl Gregory Faye, Head of UNGEI Secretariat, on the occasion of Global Action Week 2008
NEW YORK, 22 April 2008 – This year, Global Action Week focuses on the theme 'Quality Education to End Exclusion'. This theme recognizes the need for quality education for children everywhere, in school and out. Ensuring a quality education includes identifying the social, economic and environmental needs of the child in order to provide a space for better learning and care.

Comparative and International Education Society 52nd Annual Meeting (2008)
Teachers College, Columbia University is pleased to host the 2008 Meetings of the Comparative and International Education Society. We look forward to seeing you in New York City in March for what promises to be a dynamic meeting on a topic of great importance to CIES members, educational equity. The first session of panels will begin promptly at 8:30AM on Monday, March 17, 2008. The final session of panels will be on Friday, March 21, 2008 at 10:30AM.

International Women's Day 2008: Statement by Cheryl Gregory Faye, Head of UNGEI Secretariat
NEW YORK, USA, 7 March 2008 – This year, International Women's Day is focusing on the theme: “Investing in Women and Girls.” With more than half of the children who are not in school being girls, the importance of financing for gender equality in education should be reinforced.

Mobilizing resources for girls' education during the Commission on the Status of Women
NEW YORK, USA, 26 February 2008 – The 52nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women is under way at the United Nations. Focusing on the priorities of financing gender equality and empowering women, the annual forum commenced yesterday with a panel of experts hosted by the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI), UNICEF and the Working Group on Girls of the NGO Committee on UNICEF.

Globalization Requires Education Reforms in Middle East and North Africa, Report Says
February 4, 2008—Countries in the Middle East and North Africa need to overhaul their education systems to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive world and realize the potential of their large and growing youth population.

‘Beyond School Books’– an audio series on education in emergencies: Segment #5
NEW YORK, USA, 2 January 2008 – Providing education to children in regions and societies affected by conflict – or emerging from it – is a major challenge. Yet communities in conflict-affected areas consistently rank education as a high priority. And they demonstrate astounding resourcefulness and resilience in seeking out and providing schooling for their children.

‘Beyond School Books’– an audio series on education in emergencies: Segment #4
NEW YORK, USA, 19 December 2007 – Providing education to children in regions and societies affected by conflict – or emerging from it – is a major challenge. Yet communities in conflict-affected areas consistently rank education as a high priority. And they demonstrate astounding resourcefulness and resilience in seeking out and providing schooling for their children.

Top 10 stories 2007 for education and gender equality
The communication team for education and gender equality, working closely with the education section in Programme Division, brings its multi-media expertise to bear on MDG 2 - achieving universal primary education - and MDG 3 - promoting gender equality and empowering women. What follows, in loose chronological order, are ten of the top stories for 2007 (plus three we couldn't leave out.) Look for more in 2008.

'Beyond School Books’ – an audio series on education in emergencies: Segment #3
NEW YORK, USA, 16 November 2007 – Providing education to children in regions and societies affected by conflict – or emerging from it – is a major challenge.

Eighth Meeting of the Working Group on Education for All (14 - 16 November 2007)
The Eighth Meeting of the Working Group on EFA comes at the crucial midway point along the time-line to 2015. Despite significant advances over the past seven years, it is clear that progress must be accelerated if the six EFA Goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are to be reached by 2015.

'Beyond School Books’ – an audio series on education in emergencies: Segment #2
The War’s Over, Now Where’s Your Homework? Listen to a discussion about child soldiers and education in the context of humanitarian aid delivery to conflict and post-crisis countries.

'Beyond School Books’ – an audio series on education in emergencies: Segment #1
When Crises Strike Children – Education as a Human Right and Long-Term Development Tool. Listen to a discussion of the immediate and long-term needs and rights of children living in crisis zones.

UNGEI panel discusses the importance of girls' education at the Women Deliver Conference
The Women Deliver global conference on maternal mortality reduction, jointly organized by a coalition of partners including the UNGEI Global Advisory Committee members DFID, Norad, Sida, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank, featured a panel on girls' education organized by UNGEI. UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Kul Gautam moderated the panel, which examined issues around the education and empowerment of girls and young women in developing countries using gender equality and life-cycle approaches.

Executive Board looks at UNICEF’s priorities in education for all
NEW YORK, 5 June 2007 – UNICEF’s Executive Board today reviewed its programming priorities in education, looking at strategies to help achieve the goal of providing quality education for all children.

UNGEI Contributes to improving EFA-FTI process in Liberia and Sierra Leone
NEW YORK, NY, 9 May 2007 - UNGEI contributed to the gender review of the country plans for the Republic of Liberia and the Republic of Sierra Leone, which were welcomed to the Education for All – Fast Track Initiative (FTI) Partnership last week.

2007 Global Action Week calls for Education as a Human Right
23 April 2007 - Education as a human right is the theme of the 2007 Global Action Week (GAW) 23-29 April 2007. This annual initiative in favour of Education for All is organized by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), with the support of numerous partners ranging from international organizations to civil society.

A former child soldier speaks out at UN session on challenges facing girls
NEW YORK, USA, 2 March 2007 – The striking testimony of a girl who was formerly a child soldier brought an audience of hundreds to its feet for a standing ovation – and moved many to tears – at United Nations headquarters in New York this afternoon.

At UN panel, girls describe challenges keeping their peers out of school
NEW YORK, USA, 1 March 2007 – Youth panellists shared the experiences and challenges of girls growing up in their four different countries today at a discussion hosted by the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) in New York.

Youth voices heard at opening of UN Commission on the Status of Women
NEW YORK, USA, 26 February 2007 – The 51st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women opened at United Nations headquarters in New York this morning, launching two weeks of discussions and events in the run-up to International Women’s Day.

Gender Equality Focus of Berlin Conference
28 February 2007—Women today live longer and better lives than their mothers and grandmothers. But unless they can achieve their full economic potential, families and countries will continue to pay a heavy price.

UNGEI panel at the 51st session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
NEW YORK, NY, 23 February 2007 - The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) will host a panel discussion on “Partnerships for protection in the education of girls” on 1 March 2007 during the 51st Session of the UN Commission of Status of Women (CSW).

Cheryl Gregory Faye becomes new Head of UNGEI Secretariat
NEW YORK, 15 February 2007 – Cheryl Gregory Faye, former Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the Gambia, assumes leadership of the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) Secretariat today.

Deputy Executive Director talks women’s and children’s rights in the Middle East and Africa
NEW YORK, USA, 10 December 2006 – As UNICEF launches its flagship annual report, ‘The State of the World’s Children’ – which focuses this year on the links between women’s rights and children’s well-being – UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Rima Salah has just returned from an extensive field visit in which those links featured prominently.

Girls’ education – a lethal blow to AIDS
December 2006 – Angeline Mugwendere, 26, fears that almost half of her classmates from primary school in rural Zimbabwe are HIV positive by now. Some of her fellow pupils have already died from related illnesses.

World AIDS Day 2006
1 December 2006 – Calling the struggle against the HIV/AIDS pandemic “the greatest challenge of our generation,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on international leaders to make sure they deliver on all the promises that their governments have made.

Interview with Gene Sperling from Wide Angle
November 2006 - On 5 September 2006: Gene Sperling, senior fellow for economic policy and director of the Center for Universal Education at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses the global effort to achieve a free education for every child in the world by 2015 with Wide Angle anchor Daljit Dhaliwal in Washington DC.

Interview with Angelique Kidjo from Wide Angle
November 2006 - Singer/songwriter and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Angélique Kidjo was interviewed in New York City by Judy Katz, producer and writer for Back to School.

CAMFED Director Wins International Prize
Octopber 2006 – CAMFED Director Angeline Mugwendere was awarded the World Women's Summit Foundation Prize for Women's Creativity in Rural Life. She received this prize on World Rural Women's Day (Oct 15th) for her work as the founder of the CAMFED Association - the growing network of young women who have graduated from school and are now acting as mentors and role models for girls across sub-Saharan Africa.

‘Global Monitoring Report’ links early childhood care with lifelong benefits
NEW YORK, USA, 1 November 2006 – Early childhood care and education make a real and lasting difference in children’s lives, says this year’s ‘Education for All Global Monitoring Report’, released by UNESCO and launched today at UNICEF headquarters in New York.

Early childhood care and education is the forgotten link in the education chain
Early childhood care and education is the special theme of this year’s EFA Global Monitoring Report, which will be launched by the Director-General of UNESCO Koïchiro Matsuura and UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman at UNICEF House in New York on 26 October.

VOY Discussion: UN study on violence against children
13 September 2005 / New York / Geneva – The study commissioned by the UN Secretary-General on violence against children has been using the discussion forums on Voices of Youth to get ideas from young people about how we can take real action to prevent and end this violence.

The UN Secretary-General’s Study Report on Violence against Children
On 11 October 2006, the UN General Assembly will consider the findings and recommendations of the UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children, a global effort to paint a detailed picture of the nature, extent and causes of violence against children, and to propose clear recommendations for action to prevent and respond to it.

World Teachers' Day 2006
5 October 2006 - World Teachers’ Day is a global tribute to teachers and their contribution to learning and social development.

UNICEF Executive Director: Girls’ education vital for developing world
NEW YORK, USA, 25 September 2006 – More than half of all children who do not go to school are girls. Achieving universal primary education is a Millennium Development Goal and one of UNICEF’s primary objectives.

UNICEF Executive Director speaks up for women at Clinton Global Initiative
NEW YORK, USA, 22 September 2006 – Leading experts on child welfare and global development have been gathering in New York to discuss ways of empowering women to aid progress.

Boost for the Education For All Fast Track Initiative
18 September 2006 — The Education for All Fast Track Initiative (FTI) received a boost on Sunday with the Netherlands, UK and the World Bank pledging additional predictable, long-term funding, and 17 African countries reciprocating with concrete national education action programs.

Donor meeting reviews the work of UNICEF on Girls’ Education and the way forward
NEW YORK, NY, USA, 19 September 2006 - On 11 September 2006, donors for girls’ education met in New York to review achievements and challenges in girls’ education during UNICEF’s medium-term strategic plan (MTSP) for 2002-2005.

Save the Children: Armed conflict creating crisis in education for 43 million children
WASHINGTON, DC, USA, 12 September 2006 — More than 43 million children living in countries wracked by war and armed conflict are being left without the chance to go to school, according to a new report published today by Save the Children. 

‘Child-Friendly Schools (CFS) for Africa’ Second Annual Capacity Building Workshop
NEW YORK, NY, 8 August 2006 - The ‘Child-Friendly Schools (CFS) for Africa’ Second Annual Capacity Building Workshop will be held in Maputo, Mozambique from 21-24 August 2006 with government counterparts, UNICEF officers and other partners attending.

AIDS Conference reviews evidence linking girls’ education and HIV prevention
NEW YORK, NY, 10 August 2006 - Members of the Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Education are organising a session on "Leadership in Girls' Education: An Essential Component in HIV Prevention" at the XVI International AIDS Conference to be held 13-18 August 2006 in Toronto, Canada.

WFP and Stanford University Press release new series on hunger
GENEVA, 28 July 2006 - The World Food Programme has released the first edition of its new World Hunger Series, an annual publication which will focus on hunger and practical strategies to end it.

Working Group on EFA meeting (19-21 July)
28 July 2006 - The seventh meeting of the Working Group on EFA was held from 19 to 21 July 2006 in UNESCO, Paris.

Partners respond to the Middle East crisis
UNGEI partners have been expressing serious concern about civilian casualties and new risks to health from escalating violence in the Middle East. To date, dozens of children have been killed, and many more have been injured. Working in partnership, UNGEI organizations are moving quickly to respond to the immediate and urgent needs of affected children and families in the Middle East.

Call for abolition of school fees
Ghana's Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Papa Owusu Ankomah, appeals to the G8 leaders meeting in St Petersburg to help poor countries abolish school fees.

'Junior 8’ delegates meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin
PUSHKIN, Russia, 14 July 2006 – Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to meet with delegates at the 'Junior 8' Youth Forum outside of St. Petersburg today, catching the participants in the middle of a video conference with youths in Cairo.

UNGEI Global Advisory Committee Meeting, 17-18 July 2006
NEW YORK, USA, 11 July 2006 - The UNGEI Global Advisory Committee (GAC) meeting takes place next week at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, 17-18 July.

EFA Working Group, 19-21 July 2006
PARIS, France, 11 July 2006 - This year’s Education for All (EFA) Working Group is set for 19-21 July at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. 

‘Junior 8’ Youth Forum prepares to meet during G8 summit in St. Petersburg
NEW YORK, USA, 5 July 2006 – In the run-up to the G8 meeting, as government leaders fine-tune their agendas and prepare for the annual international forum, adolescents from the G8 countries are getting ready for a forum of their own.

Promoting flexible education for nomadic populations in Africa
29 June 2006 - Increased access and retention to education and training opportunities for nomadic populations was the aim of a four-day workshop held in Garissa, Kenya, from 20 to 23 June 2006.

Art Auction for CAMFED
29 June 2006 - Two doctoral students from York persuaded artists from as far afield as the USA and Malawi to donate works of art for an auction in support of CAMFED.

Refugee girls miss out on learning
LONDON (AlertNet), 20 June 2006 - Many refugee girls and young women miss out on education for practical reasons such as a lack of separate toilets, but making simple improvements to camp schools can encourage more to attend, the U.N. deputy high commissioner for refugees said on Tuesday.

UNESCO launches World Campaign on disaster prevention through education
16 June 2006 - Disaster prevention starts at school. This is the major theme of a campaign launched on 15 June by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura and ISDR Director Sálvano Briceño at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters.

Central Asian Republics and Kazakhstan to discuss EFA developments
30 May 2006 - High-level officials from the Ministry of Education of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and host government Turkmenistan will meet next month to discuss progress made in achieving the Education for All (EFA) goals at the Annual CARK Education Forum.  The Forum will be held from 12 to 15 June 2006 at the President Hotel in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

World Bank to prioritize investment in education through EFA Fast Track Initiative
The World Bank is committed to help countries improve their education systems and has pledged to continue supporting the EFA Fast Track Initiative (FTI), a global partnership between donor and developing countries to ensure accelerated progress towards the Education for All and Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of universal primary education by 2015.

Global walk: A triumphant step against child hunger
ROME, Italy, 22 May 2006 - On Sunday 21 May, more than 760,000 people in 118 countries and 420 locations, across 24 time zones, participated in Fight Hunger: Walk the World.

Missed Target Triggers Call for Bold Steps - Will they be Enough?
2005 was an historic year. As world leaders gathered at the G8 Summit in June, and the World Summit in September an unprecedented mobilisation of global civil society came together to demand urgent action to ensure that the Millennium Development Goals are met. However, although summit leaders responded with promises of new aid, they remained deafeningly silent about their collective failure to reach the first MDG target – to get equals numbers of girls and boys into primary and secondary school by 2005.

The School Fee Abolition Initiative (SFAI)
School fees are one of the biggest barriers in the expansion of schooling in the poorest countries. Experience in several countries indicates that the private cost of schooling to households prevents children from accessing and completing quality basic education.

Global Action Week 2006 - Every Child Needs a Teacher
24 April 2006 - Global Campaign for Education (GCE) Global Action Week is here and GCE coalitions in over 100 countries along with Education International, UNESCO and teachers’ unions worldwide have been coming up with amazing ways to mobilise millions of children and the public to shout out to local, national and international governments with the message that:  ‘Every Child Needs A Teacher’ if the goal of free quality education for all is to be realised.

Leaders back Education for All and urge rich nations to pledge funds
WASHINGTON, DC, USA, 21 April 2006—On the eve of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and the United Kingdom's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown called on rich nations to increase funding for education so that every child on every continent can go to school.

UK Government announces $15 billion to deliver education for all
MAPUTO, Mozambique, 10 April 2006 - Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, and Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn, committed today that the UK Government would spend at least $15 billion, or £8.5 billion, on aid for education over the next ten years.

UNICEF at Oxford: Education experts to confer on reaching children in conflicts
NEW YORK, USA, 10 April 2006 – Around the world approximately 115 million children are out of school. At least half of those children live in countries affected by conflict, while many more are excluded from the basic right to an education because of natural disasters and other crises.

Lessons learned: African countries share experiences with abolition of school fees
NEW YORK, USA , 5 April 2006 – School fees are keeping the most vulnerable children out classrooms across the developing world. In countries where conflict, drought, famine and the HIV pandemic prevail, school fees hit these children the hardest. They need the safe environment, routine and services that schools can provide.

At the Children’s World Water Forum, a girl from Kenya shares her views
MEXICO CITY, Mexico, 20 March 2006 – Yesterday, a delegation of African children attended the 4th World Water Forum, where adult decision-makers are meeting to raise awareness about global water issues. The young people have been participating in the Children’s World Water Forum, which is also being held here this week.

International Women's Day 2006
6 March 2006 - International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world.

Go Girls!
Go Girls! Education for Every Child is UNICEF’s public outreach campaign to raise awareness, generate public support and mobilize resources for girls’ education in countries around the world.

CAMFED Director on Global Stage in China
November 2005 - CAMFED Director Lucy Lake has been invited to speak about the importance of education for young women across sub-Saharan Africa at a global conference in Beijing organised by the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI).

Abused and neglected, millions of children have become virtually invisible says UNICEF report
LONDON, UK, 14 December 2005 – Hundreds of millions of children are suffering from severe exploitation and discrimination and have become virtually invisible to the world, UNICEF said today in a major report that explores the causes of exclusion and the abuses children experience.

Nelson Mandela helps launch ‘Schools for Africa’ campaign
BERLIN, Germany, 20 May 2005 – Around 45 million children in sub-Saharan Africa – or nearly every other child – are out of school. Nowhere else in the world are children so deprived of education.

World AIDS Day
Growing evidence shows that getting and keeping young people in school, particularly girls, dramatically lowers their vulnerability to HIV.

Delegates at meeting on ‘Education for All’ say urgent work is needed to achieve 2015 goal
BEIJING, China, 30 November 3005 - With more than 115 million children worldwide still out of school, and more than 770 million adults illiterate, delegates to the Fifth Meeting of the High Level Group on Education for All said urgent work must be done to reach the goal of universal primary education by 2015.

Building a just society through gender equality
BEIJING, China, 26-27 November 2005 – A new UNICEF report has proposed critical steps to help the countries that are struggling to achieve educational equality for girls.

Many countries fail to meet goals for girls’ education
CHINA, Beijing, 26 November 2005 – The world has failed in an important step towards achieving educational equality for girls this year; forty-six countries will not meet international goals for gender parity in schools set for 2005.

UNICEF launches global UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS campaign
NEW YORK, 24 October 2005 – UNICEF is launching a campaign at the United Nations to alert the world to the fact that children are missing from the global AIDS agenda.

Lydia Wilbard’s Address to Mrs. Annan’s Special Event for First Spouses
On 14 September 2005, as more than 170 Heads of State/Government gathered for the 2005 United Nations World Summit, Nane Annan, wife of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, hosted a briefing for first spouses at UN Headquarters. The briefing, co-sponsored by UNICEF and UNAIDS, focussed on girls' education and HIV/AIDS as they relate to development.

UN World Summit: First Spouses event focuses on girls’ education and HIV/AIDS
NEW YORK, 14 September 2005 – As world leaders gathered for the 2005 United Nations World Summit, Nane Annan, wife of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, hosted a briefing for First Spouses that highlighted the relationship between girls’ education, HIV/AIDS and development.

School feeding programmes encourage children to attend school
There are 300 million chronically hungry children in the world. 100 million of them do not attend school. The majority are girls.

‘Scholarship Plus’ for Girls in Sub-Saharan Africa
Mentors. Community involvement. Female role models. HIV/AIDS education. Those may not sound like parts of a typical scholarship program. But then, the African Girls Scholarship Program is not typical.