The epic struggle for gender equality in almost all countries of the world is well recognized and acknowledged. For centuries, women were considered inferior to women or as second-class citizens until recently. Strangely enough, very young girls never attended public elementary schools and even when they admitted, they were made to attend a segregated school facility. Although notable progress has been made over the last 20 years, 16 million girls will never set foot in a classroom (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
The UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education honours outstanding and innovative contributions made by individuals, institutions and organizations to advance girls and women education. It is the first UNESCO Prize of this nature and is unique in showcasing successful projects that improve and promote the educational prospects of girls and women and in turn, the quality of their lives.
Funded by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the Prize has conferred annually to two laureates and consists of an award of USD 50,000 each to help further their work in the area of girls’ and women’s education. The Director-General of UNESCO awarded the Prize for the first time in 2016.
Location:
ChinaBenefits
- An award of USD 50,000 each to help further their work in the area of girls’ and women’s education.
- Prize directly contributes to the attainment of the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda, particularly SDG goals 4 on education and 5 on gender equality.
- Promotion of the right to education of women.
- Showcase leadership roles on gender equality.
Eligibilities
- Individuals, institutions or organizations having effectively contributed to the advancement of girls’ and women’s education.
- Nominations must focus on an established and ongoing project or programme of the nominee, which has been running for at least two years, and meets the selection criteria.
Selection Criteria: The project/programme of the nominee will be assessed by the Jury based on these:
- IMPACT
- INNOVATION
- SUSTAINABILITY
Additional criteria
The project/programme should already be running for at least 2 years and show evidence that it may be replicable, scalable and/or provide significant learning potential for initiatives in other contexts. It should also contribute to one or more of the 5 Priority Action Areas of the Prize.
- Basic education: support girls/adolescent girls to transition from primary education to lower-secondary education and completion of a full basic education
- Literacy: support adolescent girls and young women to acquire literacy skills
- Learning environments: support the creation of a gender-responsive and safe teaching-learning environment, free of school-related gender-based violence
- Teachers: engage female and male teachers to develop gender-responsive teaching attitudes and practices and be change agents
- World of work: support adolescent girls and young women to acquire knowledge and skills to adequately transition from school to work and lead a fulfilling life
Eligible Regions: Open for All.
Application Process
- Governments of UNESCO Members States via their National Commissions and Permanent Delegations to UNESCO, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in official partnership with UNESCO can make up to 3 nominations. Self-nominations are not accepted.
- Nominating entities must complete the online application form .
- All supporting material (e.g. publications, photos, videos) must be transmitted electronically through the online system.
- Nominees are encouraged to check the official website for detailed information on the event.
Application Deadline: May 10, 2018
Application ClosedOfficial link
