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Gender and the EFA: Achievements & Challenges

Overview

The vision agreed upon at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, in 2000 was clear and transformational: long-standing gender bias and discrimination undermine the achievement of education for all (EFA). Until all girls and women exercise their right to education and literacy, progress in achieving EFA will be stymied, and a dynamic source of development and empowerment will be squandered. Fifteen years later,

the road to achieving gender parity and reducing all forms of gender inequalities in education continues to be long and twisting. This report provides detailed evidence
of how much has been achieved in the past 15 years but also where considerable – some quite intractable – challenges remain. It highlights notable progress in gender parity in primary and secondary education, particularly in South and West Asia, while underscoring the persistent barriers to achieving gender equality in education. The lack of progress in literacy among adult women is especially stark: in 2015 an estimated 481 million women, 15 years and over, lack basic literacy skills, 64% of the total number of those who are illiterate, a percentage virtually unchanged since 2000.

What can be done to eliminate gender-specific obstacles in education and create a more gender-just world? This report describes an array of country efforts, some quite effective, to achieve and go beyond gender parity in education. 

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