$2.4 million to UN Girls’ Education Initiative

Germany and the LEGO Foundation support gender equality through education

22 Sep 2022

$2.4 million to UN Girls’ Education Initiative announced at gathering of feminist education actors

New York, September 22, 2022 –UNICEF-hosted UN Girls’ Education Initiative will receive USD 1.2 million from the Government of Germany to launch a network on gender-transformative education. Gender in education actors get the chance to enter in a long-needed dialogue about what makes education systems gender-transformative. LEGO Foundation announced a match of USD 1.2 million.

The announcement was made at the conclusion of the two-day Global Feminist Coalition for Gender-Transformative Education which brought together national and grassroots civil society organizations and young activists from 31 countries to discuss priorities for girls’ education and gender equality through education. The Coalition committed to collaborate more across countries and thematic areas. “We wanted to hear from actors on the ground what gaps and opportunities they see to achieve gender equality for children and young people through education systems,” said Antara Ganguli, director of the UNGEI Secretariat.

“Germany is pursuing a feminist development policy. We are proud of our partnership with UNGEI, an important feminist ally!”, said Dr Heike Kuhn, Head of the Education Division at the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.

The LEGO Foundation announced a match of $1.2 million to support the UNGEI Secretariat.

“All children have the right to inclusive education and in many education systems girls are discriminated against - directly or indirectly. We need to change this now. UNGEI brings together the local and the global, technical expertise and persuasive advocacy.” said Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, CEO of LEGO Foundation. “Their boldness in pushing for action and ability to do this collectively is inspiring. We hope this initial support will help UNGEI become an even stronger linchpin to support all education actors in achieving gender equality.”

Charles North, acting CEO, Global Partnership for Education and Yasmine Sherif, Director, Education Cannot Wait, welcomed the vision presented by the Coalition and shared their intent to design a new collaboration with UNGEI and LEGO Foundation to accelerate gender equality on the ground.

Notes to Editors:

UNGEI is a global partnership for gender equality in and through education. UNGEI’s mandate is to catalyze action at country and global levels to achieve fully the SDG commitments to girls’ education and gender equality in and through education. In 2022, UNGEI works in ten countries in Africa and Asia with a Secretariat in New York. UNGEI is a part of UNICEF.