From 17th to 19th May 2023, the Bakhita Partnership for Education (BPE) will convene the “Keep-the-Girls in School: Creating Gender-Sensitive Education Systems” Indaba, in Lusaka, Zambia, to consider the state of girls’ education in Africa in the wake of the unprecedented school closures caused by COVID-19. This Indaba, which will be graced by the presence of Zambia’s Minister of Education, Honourable Douglas Syakalima and education experts from various corners of Africa. The Conference will also be addressed by world-renowned American Economics professor and UN SDG Advocate under Secretary General António Guterres. Visit the Conference Programme here.
The Indaba provides a unique opportunity for a practical conversation that should aim to support action:
- To ensure that millions of girls in Africa who were already out of school before the pandemic are included within all post-COVID-19 school plans, and that plans to ensure continuity of learning and support for all students, including the most marginalized, are put in place for future crises and disruptions to education.
- To support African countries in addressing the gendered impacts of COVID-19 on girls’ education and mobilize greater political ambition, commitment, and action, in the wake of COVID-19 to safeguard the progress made on gender equality in education in recent decades, reimagine education, and accelerate progress on education and the 2030 Agenda more broadly for the remainder of the Decade of Action.
- To propose short-term policy measures informed by rigorous gender-responsive data and evidence and longer-term policy measures and approaches that aim to build back equal and stronger and to develop gender-responsive and resilient systems that are prepared for future shocks, stresses, and school closures.
Conference participants will discuss actions to put Africa on track for promoting the development of gender-responsive education systems and targeted actions to ensure girls’ continuity of learning, and retention in school and to transform education for the challenges and opportunities of our time. The Conference has been developed for policymakers and practitioners in education, including those directly involved in the design and implementation of gender-responsive and transformative education systems. The BPE is bringing together various stakeholders to join the vibrant African and global education community with various initiatives for a conversation on how to create a ‘keeping-girls-in-school’ Roadmap through gender-responsive measures that:
- Prioritize an education that empowers girls and builds their resilience.
- Transform education systems and develop schools that provide quality moral education, sufficient protection, and integrated youth-friendly services, resources, and structures that address HIV/AIDS and GBV.
- Ensures that attention is paid to teachers’ further education, their health, safety, and well-being; supports teachers so that they can help them build capacity and skills, when the need arises, to respond to the need to facilitate quality distance learning and provide support to learners in high-stress environments and at the same time support their own children’s learning from home.
- Promote policies, laws, and plans to advance girls’ rights, including the removal of discriminatory practices that impede girls’ educational participation and completion, and ability to apply their learning.
- Sustained financing to achieve results, protecting education financing for girls’ education, alongside health, social protection, and economic recovery initiatives with an equity lens.
About Bakhita Partnership for Education
The Bahkita Partnership for Education (BPE) is a partnership of the Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network of Africa (JENA) and the associations of Catholic sisterhoods in Africa. The Bakhita Partnership seeks to ensure that every girl child receives quality basic education, prioritizing the poorest and the most vulnerable. This is in line with SDG 4 and 5 goals in ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all, by 2030.
Contact Information: +254 786 584 784
jena@jesuits.africa; cchilufya@jesuits.net
