Education and Child Friendly Schools
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Impact
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© UNICEF / South Africa / Hearfield |
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Bringing boys on board as strategic partners teaches both sexes that they can work together and not against each other to create a better South Africa for all. |
- GEM has placed girls’ education on the agenda of the South African government. UNICEF was actively involved in establishing GEM in South Africa from the very start. UNICEF has developed a strong partnership with the National Department of Education and has helped the department scale up GEM to all nine of the country’s provinces by 2006.
- UNICEF is supporting 164 primary schools in Limpopo, KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape to become ‘child friendly plus’. Many of these schools are also incorporating GEM as part of their efforts to promote girls’ education.
- GEM is seen as an effective way of responding to the three inter-related threats to girls’ education in South Africa – gender inequality, violence in schools and the impact of HIV and AIDS.
- GEM encourages youth participation and empowerment. By giving children the opportunity to find solutions to problems affecting their lives, they become actors in the development of their schools, communities and nation.
- In a patriarchal society where girls do not have full control over their bodies and lives, GEM is a vehicle for female empowerment. When girls acquire life skills and feel supported by their peers and caring adults, they become confident enough to take charge of their lives and put a stop to abuse and violence.
- Bringing boys on board as strategic partners teaches both sexes that they can work together and not against each other to create a better South Africa for all.
- The Technogirls project gives girls broader horizons and shows them that they can succeed in traditionally male-dominated professions. To date, 34 ‘technogirls’ in the Eastern Cape have been placed in mining companies and 20 girls will get scholarships to study mining.
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