Gender at the Centre Initiative (GCI)

As part of its commitment to equity and inclusion in education, the IIEP-UNESCO Dakar office aims to place gender equality at the heart of education sector strategies and practices. Within the framework of the Gender at the Centre Initiative, our team of gender specialists provides technical support to the ministries of education of the eight countries involved in the project: Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Chad.

Gender mainstreaming 

These support missions result in a transversal integration of the gender dimension in the development, implementation and monitoring of education policies. These missions include:

• Education sector analyses.
• Education sector plans.
• Tools for planning, programming and budgeting of educational policies.
• Tools for monitoring and evaluating education policies.

Depending on the context and needs, more targeted interventions to conduct participatory assessments or to promote inter-ministerial policy dialogue are carried out with national structures. IIEP-UNESCO Dakar's technical assistance aims, above all, to develop organisational capabilities and promote autonomy in gender-sensitive educational planning in ministry and education administration. In addition, our teams assist with the transformation needed to institutionalise and integrate gender issues into education systems. 
 

IIEP-UNESCO Office in Dakar designs, coordinates and delivers high-level training courses to build professional and institutional capabilities around gender issues in education. These are intended for those in charge of educational management and planning in the eight programme countries - and more broadly on the continent. This training is available in various formats and covers multiple themes:

• A short training course on gender-sensitive education planning.
• A cohort programme to bring together a community of educational planners in Africa for the purposes of professional development and networking.
• Customised training on gender in education systems for the eight countries of the Gender at the Centre Initiative (GCI). 
  
  ​​​​​​Learn more about training in gender-sensitive educational planning 

IIEP UNESCO Dakar's Gender and Education Community of Practice Workshop meet up in Dakar.  The Gender at the Centre (GCI) team worked with the community of practice on gender institutionalisation and policy change roadmaps to advance gender mainstreaming in their ministry of education.

Launched in the summer of 2019 at the G7 summit  in Biarritz France, the Gender at the Centre Initiative brings together the governments of eight beneficiary countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Coordinated by the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI), the Alliance also includes partners from international organisations and civil society:

• The headquarters and the national and regional offices of UNESCO 
• The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
• The Global Partnership for Education (GPE)
• The African Union - International Centre for Girls' and Women's Education in Africa (AU/CIEFFA) 
• A consortium of civil society organisations comprising the African Network Campaign on Education for All (ANCEFA), from the international plan of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE)

As a key component of the Alliance, IIEP-UNESCO provides technical leadership for the Gender at the Centre Initiative through its Africa office in Dakar, in close collaboration with the ministries of education of the countries concerned.

IIEP-UNESCO is committed to promoting knowledge-based and data-driven education policy, planning approaches and management practices. To this end, IIEP’s research and development program and GCI are currently developing projects in five priority workstreams with the following objectives:

• Bringing together existing relevant knowledge and cutting edge data analysis techniques to improve the impact of gender mainstreaming policies in and through education in the GCI countries.
• Conducting new research to fill knowledge gaps and data analysis needs in the GCI countries, in partnership with various organizations
• Share and disseminate widely the knowledge produced in GCI countries and for the international community.

The five priority areas are:

• Challenges and opportunities for female leadership in education (ex. female school principals)
• Education responses for a gender-responsive integration of populations in crisis situations
• Gender, skills, and labour market integration
• Challenges and policy responses to address school dropouts 
• Information systems to better identify, monitor and respond to school-based gender-based violence
   

Women in Learning Leadership (WiLL) is a joint initiative of IIEP-UNESCO Dakar, the Gender at the Center Initiative – GCI, and UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight. Through an approach that combines the co-creation of evidence with national capacity development, hand in hand with Ministries of Education and partners, WiLL seeks to promote the adoption of best school leadership practices while promoting equitable gender representation in school management positions in low- and middle-income countries.

Learn more about WiLL 

From Mozambique to Nigeria, from The Gambia to the Democratic Republic of Congo, see how our activities are having an impact.  

The Gender at the Centre Initiative (GCI) is an innovative program that collaborates with governments, civil society, young feminist activists, and local actors to promote gender equality in and through education. This advocacy brief outlines the challenges and vision for achieving gender equality in education, and shares the impact and results of GCI’s work.

Prendre en compte le genre dans les stratégies et pratiques du ministère de l’Éducation au Burkina Faso  (in French)

Advancing gender equality in and through education:

When She Leads: How Female Principals Guide and Impact Sub-Saharan Africa’s Classrooms

Empowering Girls: Addressing School Dropout Through Data Systems, Policies, and Early Prevention Tools in Sub-Saharan Africa

BBC interview with Fabricia Devignes  (in French)

Extract from an interview with Fabricia Devignes, GCI program manager, on RTS 1's "Kinkeliba" on October 11, 2023. (in French)

Fabricia Devignes
Programme Manager / Gender at the Centre Initiative
IIEP-UNESCO Dakar Focal Point on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse 
mf.devignes@iiep.unesco.org 

UNESCO applies a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and abuse by its staff.
Learn more about UNESCO policy on protection against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse