Community
Collaboration, consultation and participation are central to the work of the AGEE project. Our research is underpinned by an ongoing process of critical participatory discussion at local, national, and international levels. Our activities seek to bring together a diverse range of practitioners who work on evaluating and measuring gender equality in education to exchange views and expertise. These include representatives from national and local government, multilateral and bilateral organisations, civil society organisations, researchers and activists. Consultation, discussion and participation comprise a core feature of AGEE’s innovative research design. We aim to build and sustain a global ‘community of practice’ to support the Sustainable Development Goals and the Transforming Education Summit agenda. The AGEE project is currently working with communities of practice in four countries – Malawi, South Africa, Indonesia and Kenya – and with a number of international policy research networks. In each country and for the global community there is – or will soon be – an advisory committee, which includes representatives from governments and civil society who have knowledge on gender and education issues. Each committee advises AGEE on aspects of research design and analysis as well as commenting on papers prepared at each stage of the project. Find out more about our advisory committees.
In each country, engagements and discussions about the project help to build insight into local conditions. So far, these have included:
- Introductory seminars hosted the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the University of Malawi, attended by key representatives from the academic community, government, and relevant civil society organisations;
- Workshops to discuss the draft AGEE Framework, and its application at national, international, institutional and project levels;
- Interviews with key informants inviting reflections on particular local contexts, challenges, and strategies, and feedback on the AGEE Framework;
- Participation in academic conferences, UN-convened meetings and workshops.
Presentation of the AGEE Framework at international seminars and workshops has helped us gather feedback and refine ideas. At the international level, engagement activities so far include:
- Discussion with international organisations, including UNGEI, UNESCO, GEM Report, Gender at the Centre Initiative, SIGI, Education Cannot Wait and the Global Partnership for Education
- International advisory committee meetings
- Interviews with key informants inviting reflections on gender equality and inequalities cross-nationally, accountability processes and the AGEE Framework
- Technical meeting, jointly organised with UNESCO GEM Report, January 2019.
- Perspectives for the G7, May 2021
- Technical meeting, June 2021
- International meeting in partnership with UNESCO, October 2023
- Workshop on ‘Cross-national Dashboards for Accountability for Gender Equality in Education’, delivered on behalf of KIX EMAP, March 2024 (online).