The Global Campaign for Education welcomes the initiative of UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova in convening a global partnership on gender and education, launched on 26^th May 2011. The group, with high-level government and private sector participation, will provide advocacy and leadership on the issue in the vital years to 2015. In particular GCE applauded the UN Secretary-General and US Secretary of State for their warm endorsement of the initiative and commitment to continued leadership.

Addressing a large gathering of education and development experts, the UN Secretary-General opened the meeting by speaking passionately of the role of education in promoting mother and child health, women’s empowerment and economic growth. He committed himself to being part of a global campaign and rallying ‘many Heads of State’ to the cause. ‘Our guiding light is human rights,’ said Mr Ban, adding that women’s education will lead to ‘human dignity for all’ and a new generation of female ‘scholars, scientists, investors and inventors’.

Secretary of State Clinton also spoke passionately of her personal dedication to gender equality in education. ‘No society can achieve its full potential when half its population cannot realize theirs’, she asserted. She committed the US to working jointly with UNESCO to identify and unlock the causes of gender inequality in education, positioning the issue as a central challenge of international development. Mrs Clinton pointed to the need to increase access to secondary education for girls, and address the gaping inequalities in women’s literacy.

GCE warmly welcomes the leadership of these two key political figures on the issue of girls’ and women’s education, and looks forward to ensuring that their commitment translates to concrete action and financing commitments to overcome the obstacles to girls and women realizing their education rights.

Two women Prime Ministers – from Bangladesh and Mali – spoke of the achievements and challenges in making progress in gender equality in their countries. While both countries have made impressive strides in increasing girls’ enrolment in primary education, more needs to be done to ensure full equality of experience and learning for girls. In a timely move, GCE’s forthcoming report building on our highly successful Global Action Week on women’s and girl’s education, features case studies on these two countries. The report will provide further policy recommendations for these and other countries and for the global community, on its release on 16^th June 2011.

A panel of high-profile individuals, including Malanne Verveer, US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, and His Highness the Aga Khan as well as leaders from the world of business and foundations went on to discuss opportunities and challenges in women’s and girls’ education. While GCE welcomes the interest of business figures in advocating for education goals, we caution against excessive reliance on public-private partnerships as a solution to the challenges of gender inequality in education.

Full membership of the panel:

• Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh
• Cissé Mariam Kaidama Sidibé, Prime Minister of Mali
• Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard University Professor
• His Highness, the Aga Khan
• Marc de Lacharrière, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for EFA
• Nizan Guanaes, Chairman of Grupo ABC
• Musimbi Kanyoro, Director of the Population Program at the Packard Foundation (representing President and CEO Carol Larson)
• Laurent Philippe, Group President, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, Procter & Gamble (representing President/CEO Bob McDonald)
• Sunny Varkey, GEMS Education Founder and Chairman
• Linda Zecher, Corporate Vice-President, Worldwide Public Sector for Microsoft