Academy for Educational Development

May Rihani, AED Senior Vice President and director of the AED Center for Gender Equity, was recently elected to be the co-chair of the Global Advisory Committee of the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative, or UNGEI.

UNGEI is an historical initiative that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched at the World Education Forum in Dakar (2000). The goal is to narrow the gender gap in primary and secondary education and to ensure that by 2015 all children complete primary schooling, with girls and boys having equal access to all levels of education. UNGEI operates at the country, regional, and global levels.

At the country level, UNGEI supports country-led development and seeks to influence decision-making and investments to ensure gender equity and equality in national education policies, plans and programs. At the global level, UNGEI operates through its Global Advisory Committee, which is composed of key partners around the world who share in the planning, decision-making, guidance and accountability of UNGEI.

Girls face many barriers to remaining in schools, including:

• Opportunity Cost
• Child labor caused by high levels of poverty
• Cultural norms such as early marriages
• Family pressure to keep girls at home
• Schools located far from homes creating safety issues
• Educational infrastructure that is not girl friendly
• Gender bias within schools and classrooms

Rihani’s first initiative in her two-year term will be to work with an UNGEI sub working group to explore the active involvement of the private sector in UNGEI. Another area that she plans to focus on is women teachers.

“Positive role models, like teachers, are especially important to girls, who often have a very limited view of what their futures hold,” said Rihani. “By learning about what women have accomplished, girls understand that they can do more, and be more, as adults.”