Gender
A new UNESCO global study, When Schools Shut: Gendered impacts of COVID-19 school closures, exposes failure to factor in gender in COVID-19 education responses and widening gaps in access to quality education following school closures.
Citing some 90 countries, including 20 in the Asia-Pacific region, the study shows that despite governments' and partners’ swift responses to school closures, remote learning strategies in most countries failed to account for gender-based considerations and barriers that children face at home. Research in local communities in Bangladesh, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mali and Pakistan demonstrates widespread limitations of access to tech-based remote learning, and increased household responsibilities and demands for labour that have reduced children’s time to study. The closures have also severely impacted children’s mental health, resulting in anxiety, isolation, and fears of increased violence – particularly among the most marginalized and those in contexts of crisis.
A growing number of children are at risk of not returning to school. The study calls for the education community to tackle disengagement in education and low return-to-school rates in vulnerable communities by understanding and addressing gender disparities and inequalities in policies and programme delivery, for example through targeted financial support to families, the deployment of no-tech and low-tech remote learning solutions, and equipping schools to provide psychosocial support.
Author: UNESCO
Audience: Policymakers
Languages: English
Geographical Scope: East Asia and Pacific
This Brief summarizes the impact of COVID-19 on the education of girls in countries across the East Asia and Pacific(EAP) region and proposes considerations for national stakeholders and policy makers in their school reopening efforts and beyond. The Brief also provides specific examples of UNICEF’s programmatic interventions for ensuring girls are not left behind.
Author: UNESCO, UNICEF and Leonard Cheshire
Audience: Policymakers, Civil Society Organizations and Donors
Languages: English
Geographical Scope: Regional
This webinar aims to bring regional and national level education stakeholders including UNESCO, UNICEF, Civil Society Organisations, Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), donor agencies together to understand how Covid-19 has impacted on the education of children with disabilities and discuss actions to ensure children with disabilities are able to return to school.
Resources
Webinar ppt - Leonard Cheshire
Webinar Questions and Responses – Teachers and teaching modalities
Webinar Questions and Responses – Monitoring, evaluations and data collection
Webinar Questions and Responses – Community Engagement
Other resources
Ensuring an inclusive return to school for children with disabilities
As a global community dedicated to advancing gender equality in, to and through education, we must leverage the power of collective action to position gender at the forefront of the COVID-19 response and enhance coherence in advocacy and communication across partner and ally organisations.
This common messaging initiative represents a strategic opportunity to foster dialogue and raise attention to the gendered impacts of COVID-19, advocate for strategies to respond to the gendered dimensions of this crisis, and look ahead to the safe reopening of schools through a gendered lens.
Assets:
- Link to shared folder
- Statement cards & GIF | Question cards - content for LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
- Common messaging document (downloadable PDF)
COVID-19 Webinar #3: Addressing the gender dimensions of COVID-related school closures
The webinar series is part of UNESCO’s COVID-19 Education Response to enable peer learning and sharing of experiences among all countries.
