Call for Nominations: UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education 2017

Application Deadline:  5th May 2017 (midnight, Paris time)

Eligible Countries: UNESCO Member Countries

About the Award: The UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education honours outstanding innovation and contributions made by individuals, institutions and organizations to advance girls’ and women’s education. It is the first UNESCO Prize of this nature and will be unique in showcasing successful projects that improve and promote the educational prospects of girls and women and in turn, the quality of their lives.

Supported by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the Prize is conferred annually to two laureates and consists of an award of USD 50,000 each to further their work in the area of girls’ and women’s education.

The two laureates of the first edition of the Prize were selected by the Director-general of UNESCO on the basis of recommendations by the International Jury, composed of five experts in girls’ and women’s education. The Prize was awarded for the first time to two outstanding projects from Indonesia and Zimbabwe at an official ceremony that was held in Beijing, P.R. China in June 2016.

Type: Award

Selection Criteria: The two Prize winners will be selected by the Director-General of UNESCO on the basis of recommendations made by the independent International Jury of the UNESCO Prize on Girls’ and Women’s Education consisting of five experts from all geographical regions. The project/programme of the nominee will be assessed by the Jury based on the following criteria:

1. Impact: The project/programme’s impact should be qualitatively and/or quantitatively measureable, and deliver tangible results relative to the invested resources. This can include demonstrable changes in: (1) attitudes, beliefs and practices toward gender equality; (2) girls’ educational participation, attendance, completion and learning outcomes; and/or (3) other relevant parameters to advance girls’ and women’s education.
2. Innovation: The project/programme is stimulating, and/or drawing on, innovative approaches advancing girls’ and women’s education. This includes new ways of working where “business as usual” has failed, and transformative “out-of-the-box” thinking and actions. The project/programme can demonstrate innovation in terms of: (1) the themes covered; (2) the methodology employed; (3) the channels used to create change for girls and women; and/or (4) other aspects.
3. Sustainability: The project/programme has taken steps, ideally from its design or implementation phases, to ensure it will have a lasting impact beyond the project lifecycle. This may include efforts to ensure the: (1) continuation of local action; (2) institutionalization of project components; and (3) generation of further initiatives as a result of the project/programme.

Eligibility: In addition to these three criteria, the project/programme should:

• have already been running for at least two years
• show evidence that it may be replicable, scalable and/or provide significant learning potential for initiatives in other contexts
• contribute to one or more of the five priority action areas of the Prize:
  • 1. supporting girls/adolescent girls to transition from primary education to lowersecondary education and to complete full basic education;
  • 2. supporting adolescent girls and young women to acquire literacy skills;
  • 3. supporting the creation of a gender-responsive and safe teaching-learning environment, free of school-related gender-based violence;
  • 4. engaging female and male teachers to develop gender-responsive teaching attitudes and practices and be change agents; or
  • 5. supporting adolescent girls and young women to acquire knowledge and skills for them to adequately transition from school to work and lead a fulfilling life.

Number of Awardees: 2

Value of Program: Laureates receive USD 50,000.

How to Apply: The nomination form must be completed online in English or French via a platform accessible through the UNESCO website at this link for nominating entities only.

Nominations must be completed online by the Permanent Delegation to UNESCO(See in link below) of the concerned Member State, or by an NGO in official partnership(See in link below) with UNESCO, through their official account.

Visit Program Webpage for details

Award Provider: UNESCO