UNESCO [to 14 March 2015]
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/for-the-press/press-releases/

11.03.2015 – UNESCOPRESS
Closing gender gap in education
Empowering adolescent girls and young women through education is the aim – and the name – of a programme launched in New York today by UNESCO, UN Women, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Bank.

…The joint programme will be rolled out gradually in 20 countries where the education gender gap is most critical, starting with Mali, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, South Sudan and the United Republic of Tanzania. It will concentrate on four areas: improving quality and relevance of education; raising awareness at all levels to create a favourable environment for gender equality; strengthening links between the health and education sectors; and improving the data base of statistics on gender and education. It will also harness the potential of information and communication technologies to improve education delivery and content and encourage their further application for income generation, lifelong learning and exercising citizenship.

The new programme falls under the framework of the Global Partnership for Girls and Women’s Education, launched by UNESCO in 2011, and is guided by the conviction that educating girls and women can break the cycle of poverty and foster greater social justice, economic development and sustainable peace.