Three UN agencies join forces to boost education for girls and young women

Date: Tuesday, November 24, 2015

The heads of UNESCO, UNFPA and UN Women sealed a partnership to empower adolescent girls and young women through education, by signing a joint programme agreement on 23 November, 2015, at the headquarters of the United Nations Population Fund in New York.

“This partnership is a model that brings together our respective strengths to break the cycle of exclusion and vulnerability, to ensure that girls benefit from a full cycle of quality education, in line with the promise of Sustainable Development Goal 4,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka affirmed: “With this partnership, we are putting the right conditions in place to realize progress across the 2030 Agenda, to harness ICTs for quality learning, and to empower adolescent girls and young women with the confidence and skills they need to lead productive lives and shape a better future for themselves, their communities and nations.”

UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin stressed that ensuring girls’ health and education, especially their sexual and reproductive health and rights, is a crucial dimension of the 2030 Agenda: “Access to sexual and reproductive health information, services and life skills is vital for girls to transition to adulthood in confidence and safety. This Joint Programme will allow us to make this dimension an integral part of girls’ empowerment and their educational advancement,” he said.

From legislative frameworks to classroom practices, gender-sensitive curricula, sexual and reproductive health information, education and services, and data collection, the new Joint Programme will provide a coordinated and collaborative response to the persistent gender gap in education -- with a specific focus on adolescent girls and young women between the ages of 10 and 24. It will be rolled out in 20 countries where the education gender gap is most critical over a five-year period, starting with Mali, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, South Sudan and the United Republic of Tanzania.

The Joint Programme was announced during the 59th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March 2015 (read the launch press release). The Joint Document signed today formalizes this Partnership.