1st Pan African Conference on Girls' & Women's Education Concludes

Through the technical and specialised office, Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation (ESTI) Department of the African Union Commission (AUC) along with African Union International Center for Girls and Women’s Education in Africa (African Union CIEFFA) organised the 1st ever Pan African Conference based on Girls and Women's Education.

The event took place for a span of 4 days i.e., July 02 – 05, 2024 in Addis Ababa. The conference witnessed over 600 in-person participants and nearly 300 participants who took part in online mode.

Having the theme as ‘Prioritizing Girls and Women’s Education: A Strategy for Increased Access to Inclusive, Lifelong, Quality, and Relevant Learning in Africa’, the conference’s thematic focus comes in alignment with the year’s overall AU theme on Education i.e., ‘Educate an African Fit for the 21st Century: Building Resilient Education Systems for Increased Access to Inclusive, Lifelong, Quality, and Relevant Learning in Africa’.

High-level officials who were representing civil society, development partners, Member States and the African Union have graced the opening ceremony. Director of the UN Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) Antara Ganguli underscored the need to move beyond the narrative of ensuring women/girls’ access to education and making sure that they attend school, thinking of the solution to attacking the root causes. She said, “Just getting girls into school is not enough. These figures mask a much more concerning issue: the way we look at girls and what we imagine for their futures. A study done by UNGEI in Sierra Leone showed that despite the country’s success in raising awareness on girls’ education, people’s underlying beliefs about the role of girls and women in society had not changed.”