Education

Education for Gender Equality

• UN Women supports Egypt’s commitment to promote education as a priority catalyst for economic growth and social justice. Targeting young women and girls in five communities in the governorates of Greater Cairo, Minia, Luxor, Aswan and the Red Sea, UN Women aims to reduce the gender gap in education, both in formal and informal schools, to: Strengthen the quality of formal educational institutions and community mechanisms to promote education of young women and girls;
• Conduct needs assessments in the five communities, to identify and address the key constraints for girls’ access to safe education;
• Bring together the business community and educational policy makers better link education to employment needs;
• Advocate for addressing the root causes of gender-based discrimination by expanding community knowledge and acceptance of the importance of education for young women and girls.

So far, UN Women has facilitated:

• Completion of 205 infrastructure improvements,
• Building of four new community schools;
• Introduction of new interactive learning techniques and active learning methods and application with 3990 students;
• Awareness raising on diversity, accepting others and child protection reaching 14,820 students;
• Capacity enhancement of 113 teachers on active learning methodologies, behavior management and positive disciplines, and of 52 social workers on gender awareness, gender-based violence, child rights and child protection mechanism;
• A study analyzing the choices of girls in the selection of vocational education informed three policy briefs/actions to enhance vocational education and address the specific needs of young girls.   

From an economical perspective, the project has enhanced mothers’ skills on financial literacy, including about managing records, book keeping, taking loans and micro-finance regulations, resulting in the establishment of 15 micro-business which enabled the re-enrollment of the mothers’ daughters into schools. The interventions also supported women in registering and obtaining legal marriage certificates as well as national IDs, enabling them to access their rights and basic services.  

This programme is implemented with the generous support of the Embassy of Japan in Egypt.