COVID-19: Responding to gender-specific barriers to learning

Applying lessons from past epidemics to ensure continued learning for all girls

©UNICEF/UN0308195/Zaidi

As a global partnership, UNGEI is committed to bringing organisations together at the intersection of gender and education, providing a space for learning and exchange in the context of COVID-19. As part of this information exchange, UNGEI is collaborating with partners and allies to launch the ‘In Solidarity with Girls’ blog post series. This series highlights the voices of young advocates, raises attention to the gendered impacts of this crisis and provides a space to reflect on how we, as a global community, can put gender at the heart of the COVID-19 education response and recovery.

National school closures as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have disrupted the education of a generation of children and youth. At the time of writing, over 1.57 billion learners, including nearly 743 million girls, are out of school worldwide. In times of crisis such as this, existing power imbalances and inequalities are exacerbated, increasing the vulnerability and marginalisation of certain groups. Among them, adolescent girls are particularly at risk, being the least likely to return to school following a crisis.

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