Digital generation. Our generation. Learning in the era of ...

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Learning in the era of COVID-19

Digital Generation. Our Generation

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Background The theme of the 2021 International Day of the Girl is “Digital generation. Our generation.” It recognizes the profound transformations that have taken place in today’s technology-saturated societies, girls’ and women’s role in these transformations, and the need to close gendered digital access, skills gaps and girls’ access to safe and relevant online learning. Over the last year, many countries turned to high-tech education delivery as over 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries closed schools to control the spread of COVID-19. A UNESCO-UNICEF-World Bank survey of national responses to COVID-19 school closures found that in 134 of the 149 countries surveyed, high-tech modalities were used to ensure continuity of learning.1

1 UNESCO, UNICEF, and World Bank.2020. What have we learnt? Findings from a survey of ministries of education on national responses to COVID-19. Paris, UNESCO, New York, UNICEF and Washington DC, the World Bank.

11 October 2021, 13:30 15:30 CET

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Digital generation. Our generation.

2021 International Day of the Girl

Learning in the era of COVID-19

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Learning in the era of COVID-19

Digital Generation. Our Generation

The gender digital divide has meant that many girls have missed out on education in the last year. More men than women have access to the internet in all regions of the world, apart from the Americas. These gaps are greatest in the poorest countries, where only 15% of women use the internet compared to 28% of men.2 In short, where girls and young women could stand most to benefit from online learning, they are the least likely to be able to access it. Gender gaps in digital skills are also present in many contexts and have been a barrier to online learning.3 These gaps are apparent in simple tasks such as using apps on a mobile phone and grow wider for advanced skills like coding. Women and girls are 4 times less likely to know how to programme computers, and 13 times less likely to file for technology patents.4 In addition, concerns about girls’ and young women’s safety online limits their ability to learn. Parents and caregivers can limit girls’ time online because of the heighted risk of sexual exploitation, cyberbullying and exposure to harmful content.5 Disinformation and misinformation have become more intense since the COVID-19 pandemic and are a real obstacle to girls' and young women online learning, creating environments that are not conducive to their civic and political participation, and overall empowerment. More efforts are needed to empower young people, equip parents and caregivers with the knowledge and skills to support online safety, and enhance cooperation to expand access to reliable, factual and gender-responsive information in safe online spaces. Objectives This event, organized by UNESCO with the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and Plan International France, celebrates the 2021 International Day of the Girl. It aims to: put young people front and center to explore how to close gendered digital access and skills gaps, support safe online spaces, and leverage the power of technology to advance education, adolescent girls’ and women’s leadership and gender equality. It will:

• Release new evidence, including the UNESCO study on the gender dimensions of COVID-19 school closures, developed within UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition’s Gender Flagship, with recent evidence collected by the Population Council, as well as Plan’s 2021 State of the World’s Girls report focusing on online learning.

• Showcase efforts and good practices to overcome the gender digital divide and support girls’ online learning and digital skills, share recommendations for different stakeholders and stimulate joint action and cooperation

Format and Language This hybrid event, convening different stakeholders at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and the broader public online will have simultaneous interpretation in English, French and Spanish.

2 International Telecommunications Union. 2020. Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2020. Geneva, ITU. 3 N. Jones et al. 2021. ‘Some got married, others don’t want to attend school as they are involved in income-generation’: Adolescent experiences following COVID-19 lockdowns in low- and middle-income countries. London, Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence. 4 UNESCO, EQUAL Skills Coalition. 2019. I'd blush if I could: closing gender divides in digital skills through education. Paris, UNESCO. 5 Plan International. 2020. Free to be online? 2020 State of the World's Girl Report . Washington, Plan International.

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Learning in the era of COVID-19

Digital Generation. Our Generation

Programme

13.30-13.35 Welcoming remarks

Ms Julia Sieger, Journalist, France 24

13:35-13:45 When schools shut: Gendered impacts of COVID-19 school closures

Keynote presentation launching the UNESCO global report on the gender dimensions of COVID-19 school closures

Ms Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO

13:45-14:30 Education in the time of COVID-19

This panel will discuss how COVID-19 has disrupted education around the world, and the role of technology in advancing girls’ and young women’s education in this unprecedented crisis to education.

Moderator: Felipe Urbas Sinópoli, Student, University of Buenos Aires

Mary Nasieku, High school student, Kenya

Ms Houraye Mamadou Anne, Head of the West African Office of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE)

Ms Poornima Meegammana, Director Youth Development, Shilpa Sayura Foundation, Sri Lanka, 2020 laureate of the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education

Ms Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO

14:30-15:20 For inclusive digital education for girls and young women

This panel will focus on girls' and young women's engagement online, their digital literacy, and actions to ensure safe spaces and the digital skills necessary for girls' and young women's empowerment.

Moderator: Diane Nyessi, Youth Advisory Board, Plan International France

Ms Anne Bideau, Director, Plan International France

Ms Selin Ozunaldim, HeForShe activist, Founder of Girls Who Code, Global Ambassador for Women Tech

Mr Philippe Lacoste, Director, Sustainable Development Directorate, Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, France

Ms Mariel Reyes Milk, Founder and CEO, {reprograma}, Brazil, 2021 laureate of the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education

15:20-15:30 Closing remarks

Ms Julia Sieger, Journalist, France 24

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Digital Generation. Our Generation

Biographies of speakers and moderators Houraye Mamadou Anne

Houraye Mamadou Anne is the Head of the West African Office of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and the Regional CSO Consortium Representative in the Executive Committee of the Gender at the Centre Initiative established by the G7 under France’s leadership.

Anne Bideau Anne Bideau took up the post of Director of Plan International France in July 2021, following a long career in humanitarian and development world. Prior to this role, she was the Director of Solidarités International offices in Indonesia, Liberia and Macedonia. She has played key roles in the French Red Cross, managing the regional office in Asia, then the Middle East and Horn of Africa; heading the technical expertise and emergency response department and the international finance department at the French Red Cross’ Headquarters; and serving as its Director of volunteer activities and engagement.

Stefania Giannini

Stefania Giannini has served as Assistant Director-General for Education for UNESCO since 2018 and serves as Advisor to the European Commissioner for Research and Innovation. She served in the Senate of the Republic of Italy from 2013-18 and as the country’s Minister of Education, Universities and Research from 2014-16. She began her career as a professor of linguistics and was Rector of the University for Foreigners of Perugia from 2004-12. She has also served in the Selection Committee of the Erasmus Mundus programme in Brussels, the Committee of The Conference of Italian University Rectors and the National Commission for the Promotion of Italian Culture Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Philippe Lacoste

Philippe Lacoste is Director for Sustainable Development at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. He graduated from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), and joined the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in 1996. He held multiple positions within the Ministry. Among others, he was Ambassador of France in Tchad between 2016 and 2019, Ambassador and Deputy Special Representative for the Climate Change conference in Paris (COP 21) between 2014 and 2015, and Ambassador of France in the Union of Comoros between 2011 and 2014.

Poornima Meegammana Poornima Meegammana is the Director of Youth Development at the Shilpa Sayura Foundation, where she leads NextGen Girls in Technology, awarded the 2020 UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education. A social entrepreneur, educator, designer and filmmaker, Poornima is working towards empowering youth with inspiration, knowledge, skills and leadership to face 21st century challenges through social innovations, and media powered by cutting-edge technology. She has received many awards for her work in the creative industry and with civic/social organizations.

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Learning in the era of COVID-19

Digital Generation. Our Generation

Mariel Reyes Milk Founder and CEO of {reprograma}, Mariel Reyes Milk is a social entrepreneur who works to bring more diversity to Brazil’s IT sector. She believes that everyone should be creating technology, and that training women and girls in computer programming not only empowers them and transforms their lives, but also makes business sense. Before becoming a social entrepreneur, Mariel worked at the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation on social and environmental development projects in Latin America and Asia.

Mary Mary, is a high school student in Kibera, Kenya. She is also Team Lead for Ladies of Purpose, a team of girls, that was part of the 2021 Technovation Girls Challenge. Her team made a pitch to develop the Kaziqua Water app to link skilled and semi-skilled youth to potential employers, addressing unemployment and advancing progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 8 for inclusive economic growth and decent work for all.

Diane Nyessi

Diane Nyessi, 24 years old, recently graduated with a Master 2 in Arbitration and International Trade and is currently preparing for the bar. Passionate about children's rights and girls' rights in particular, she joined Plan des Jeunes, the youth advisory board of the NGO Plan International France, in October 2017. Active in different associations as a mentor, she gives advice to young people to find their way and advises those who, like her, wish to embark on the adventure of law.

Selin Ozunaldim Selin Ozunaldim, 18 years old, is a young HeForShe Advocate in Turkey, founder of Girls Who Code, founder of Girl Up Istanbul, founder of @wegroundzero, a Girl Rising Task Force Member, a Women Tech Global Ambassador and one of the 300 Gender Youth Activist selected globally for the Generation Equality Campaign of UN Women.

Julia Sieger

Julia Sieger is a tech and health columnist for the French and English channel of France 24. She presents the Tech 24 show on the English channel. She also occasionally presents the news. She started her career working for the office of the US senator of Florida. In 2007, she joined the local channel WCBS2 in New York. A few years later, she returned to Paris to join the team of Revu et Corrige on France 5 as an international columnist. Since 2012 she has been working for France 24.

Felipe Urbas Sinópoli

Felipe Urbas Sinópoli is a 21-year-old Argentinian activist and law student at the University of Buenos Aires with a specialized focus on human rights. For the past six years, he has been the Latin-American youth representative for the Global Campaign for Education, participating in the United Nations General Assembly meetings. He sits on the Guiding Group of Transform Education hosted by UNGEI, where he works to create an advocacy space for young activists from all over the world. He also sits on the Reference Group for UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition’s Gender Flagship.