The UNGEI approach
Leveraging the power of partnership
Striving together for gender equality in and through education
UNGEI is a global partnership hosted by UNICEF, united by a shared commitment to advancing gender equality in and through education. We provide a platform for coordinated advocacy and collective action in order to break down barriers to education, close the gender gap and unlock its transformative power for all girls, everywhere. For more than two decades we have been championing gender-responsive education systems, policies and practices - speaking out as one and holding the international community to account.
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The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative
The early chapters
The first partnership of its kind, UNGEI was launched in April 2000 at the Dakar World Education Forum by the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. Established as one of the United Nations’ flagship initiatives for Education for All, from the start UNGEI played a pioneering role in promoting collective action for girls’ education and gender equality. 13 UN entities, led by UNICEF, came together with the goal of helping governments to deliver on their commitments to girls’ education. In the years that followed the partnership grew to include organizations operating at national and regional level. In 2004, UNGEI’s Global Advisory Committee was launched along with the UNICEF-hosted Secretariat.
“The world needs a coordinated strategy on the scale of the challenge. We need all those with power to change things to come together in an alliance for girls’ education.”
Meet the team h1>
The UNGEI Secretariat carries out UNGEI's day-to-day operations. Hosted by UNICEF, the Secretariat comprises a core team who together lead evidence-building, advocacy, communications, youth engagement, partnerships and many other critical areas of work.
Our supporters h4>
Thanks to the financial support of the following organizations, we are working to put gender equality at the heart of education.