On International Women’s Day, UNESCO launched the call for nominations for the 2024 UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education. The Prize awards US$ 50,000 annually to two laureates making outstanding efforts in favour of girls’ and women’s education.
Today, 122 million girls remain out of school and two thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women. This is despite the significant progress made in recent decades to realize girls’ and women’s right to education.
We know that gender, combined with other factors such as cultural norms and stereotypes, wealth, ethnicity or location continue to prevent girls and women everywhere from reaching their full potential.
At the Transforming Education Summit in 2022, countries called for actions that put gender equality at the heart of education plans, budgets and policies as part of their commitment to transform education for the world we live in today.
In practice, this means promoting gender equality in curricula and pedagogies, creating safe, inclusive and transformative learning spaces, supporting collaboration across sectors and generations and investing in the most marginalized.
Are you driving transformative change for girls’ and women’s education?
Nominations are made by Governments of UNESCO Member States or Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in official partnership with UNESCO. They can nominate up to three individuals, institutions, or organizations making strong, innovative contributions to girls’ and women’s education. Self-nominations are not possible.
Interested candidates are invited to contact their country’s National Commission for UNESCO/Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, an NGO in official partnership with UNESCO or the Prize Secretariat for more information.
Nominations must meet the eligibility and selection criteria set by the Prize. Nominated projects must be established and running for at least two years and show potential to be replicable and scalable.
An independent International Jury of five experts will assess nominations on the basis of the project’s potential for impact, innovation and sustainability.
Deadline for submissions is 24 May 2024 (midnight, Paris time).
Nominations must be submitted in English or French via an online platform, accessible only to National Commissions for UNESCO/Permanent Delegations to UNESCO and NGOs in official partnership with UNESCO.
Based on the recommendations of the Jury, the Director-General of UNESCO will announce the 2024 laureates who will receive the award on or around 11 October 2024 as part of International Day of the Girl celebrations.
Co-hosted by the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Global Gateway High-Level Education Event, which will take place on 11 April 2024 in Brussels, aims to highlight EU's role in transforming global education and bridging skills gaps.
The event will gather political and business leaders, decision makers, CSOs and youth representatives to showcase how EU international partnerships contribute to transforming education and addressing skills gaps across the world. The event will be co-hosted by the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Explore the event page to find out about the programme and regular updates until the day of the event.
Registration: We kindly ask you to register for the event by filling in this form by the 26th of March.
Onsite attendance is limited by the venue's capacity and requires prior approval; we advise waiting for the confirmation email before making any travel arrangements.
We will also welcome guests to attend the livestreamed event online.