Gender and Education Workshop
A group of participants brainstorm what true gender equality in basic education would look like. From left to right: Leila Mehta, MSI-EQUATE; Dwaine Lee, EGAT/ED; Shaheen Parveen, USAID/Bangladesh; Luba Fajfer, E&E/DGST; and Ann Oden, USAID/Nigeria.
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"What is the best way to program for equality and education? How
can education programs better respond to the needs of boys and girls?
What are the skills and tools USAID staff need to achieve gender equality
in today's ever-changing environments?"
The workshop Programming for Today's Challenges:
Skills, Tools and Strategies for Achieving Equality in
Education held August 4th and 5th, in Washington,
D.C., provided participants with an opportunity to build
practical skills to better respond to these questions.
Education program officers from USAID Missions representing
the Africa, ANE and E&E Bureaus, along with USAID/Washington
staff, attended the Workshop, which was sponsored by
the WID Office and facilitated by MSI-EQUATE.
The aim of the two-day workshop was to help USAID staff
strengthen their ability to design and implement education
programs that responds to the particular needs of boys
and girls by being more aware of the gender-related barriers
affecting students’ ability to access, participate
and achieve in school. Special emphasis was placed on considering
the needs of orphans and vulnerable children affected by
the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Through the use of a video and the
review of qualitative and quantitative data, participants
were asked to examine how HIV/AIDS is affecting the ability
of boys and girls to attend school and determine how an
education program can be restrategized to respond to these
needs.
Over the course of the workshop, participants were presented
with a framework to help them consider the relationship
between gender equality and education and the implications
for quality education. Participants worked in teams to
identify the entry points for mainstreaming gender throughout
the program cycle, practice applying a gender analysis
to education projects, design gender-sensitive indicators
and consider ways to strengthen the education programs
supported by their Missions.
Participants were introduced to a variety of Participatory
Learning and Action (PLA) methodologies and were asked
to draw from their own experiences for many of the learning
activities. This hands-on course used experiential learning
to show participants how to use participatory approaches
for planning, monitoring, and evaluating education programs.
Opportunities for peer exchange, networking and personal
reflection were provided throughout the workshop.
For more information about this workshop or the EQUATE
Task Order, please contact Julie Hanson Swanson at either
202-712-1687 or juswanson@usaid.gov
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