“Scaling up good practices such as FAWE’s Gender Responsive Pedagogy and youth empowerment platforms like Tuseme, as well as providing gender-sensitive digital literacy training for teachers, will be key to overcoming gender barriers in education.”

Martha Muhwezi, FAWE Africa 

Looking back on 2024

Last March, the Coalition for Good Schools had invested in strong participation at the 68th annual CIES conference held in Miami, Florida, so we were very excited to see some of our founding members returning to the space in 2025, including the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and Breakthrough India. 

The CIES Conference brings together leading minds in the field of international education to deliberate on cross-cutting issues affecting learners, teachers, and administrators as well as education policymakers, funders and the members of civil society working to improve access and quality of education worldwide. For years, CIES conferences have featured space for safety in education, though predominantly through a focus on the field of education in emergencies (EiE) which has been strategically cultivated in CIES spaces over many years. The Coalition saw further opportunity to enhance focus on safety – including non-violence and gender equality – as a cornerstone of quality education in every context, particularly in schools throughout the Global South where the majority of the world’s children seek their education.

Within the 2024 theme of “The Power of Protest”, the Coalition for Good Schools convened a panel highlighting voices from the Global South on the promise and practicalities of preventing violence and transforming social norms in and through schools in the Global South. FAWE Africa, HakiElimu, Breakthrough India, ICRW Asia, Aulas En Paz and Raising Voices all discussed why they have chosen to focus on schools as an entry point for violence prevention work.

In this space, a lively discussion explored diverse, evidence-based innovations including whole school approaches like the Good School Toolkit, gender transformative school programming like Breakthrough India’s Taaron Ki Toli (Legion of Stars) or FAWE’s Gender Responsive Pedagogy, civic education for peaceful societies like Aulas en Paz’s Classrooms in Peace, as well as national and regional advocacy by HakiElimu in Tanzania and the emerging body of evidence around the effectiveness of this diverse body of work led by ICRW Asia and the University of Cape Town.

Participants from across the globe used this space to discuss learning from practice in navigating diverse forms and experiences of violence in schools beyond corporal punishment, in ensuring government ownership of school-based prevention efforts, and what efforts are underway in the Global South to engrain these approaches into national curricula. From these discussions, new ideas for collective action emerged, and the Coalition looked forward to seeing the CIES space bringing together further perspectives from practitioners in the Global South.

“[We need] a more integrated approach to digital education, one that prioritises social justice and equity as foundational elements of the learning experience in the 21st century.”

– Sunita Menon, Breakthrough India 

On digital safety and equity in schools

In this year’s CIES conference, Martha Muhwezi from FAWE Africa spoke to their post-COVID recovery work, adopting a range of digital solutions to ensure the continued education and well-being of girls across the continent. To provide life skills and career guidance, FAWE launched an interactive online platform, enabling girls to connect with mentors who hosted virtual sessions. Additionally, through ‘Tuseme’ clubs – youth empowerment initiatives that build girls’ leadership, social skills, and self-esteem, and promote a positive attitude amongst boys towards girls’ education – girls were supported to return to school upon reopening. FAWE also used this time to digitise its Gender Responsive Pedagogy (GRP) model, training teachers and school leaders to create learning environments that address the unique needs of both girls and boys. FAWE’s interventions were implemented across several countries in the Africa. 

Sunita Menon from Breakthrough India reminded participants of Breakthrough’s flagship gender equity initiative for adolescents aged 11-18 years, “Legion of Stars”, which has demonstrated significant success in promoting gender-equitable attitudes and behaviors among its participants. The original “Legion of Stars” program has demonstrated significant success in promoting gender-equitable attitudes and behaviours among its participants. An impact assessment of the initiative, which has reached over one million adolescents in India, revealed a 16% increase in adolescents’ positive attitudes towards education and employment of women and girls. Behavioural changes were particularly notable among boys, who reported greater involvement in household chores and a more proactive stance in encouraging their sisters’ educational pursuits.

She then spoke to the design and development of Breakthrough’s new adaptation of this intervention in the form of a digital platform launched in 2023. The platform leverages digital tools to influence and reshape adolescents’ attitudes toward gender equality in a world where traditional, in-person learning is increasingly supplemented or replaced by online education.

The newly developed digital platform integrates evidence-based content with advanced digital learning methodologies, including interactive modules, real-life scenario simulations, and gamified experiences. These tools are specifically designed to challenge entrenched stereotypes, promote empathy, and foster critical thinking among young users. The platform offers a personalised learning journey that encourages adolescents to question and dismantle traditional gender norms, adopt equitable practices, access essential child safeguarding services, and develop their skills across educational, familial, and community contexts.

Through this innovative approach, the platform empowers young people to envision and actively contribute to a more equitable society. It is currently available in both self-paced and facilitator-driven formats, with 24 modules designed for independent learning and 18 modules tailored for guided instruction. To date, over 60,000 adolescents have engaged with the digital program, showing measurable gains in their understanding of gender equality and their ability to act as agents of change within their communities.

You can find more on Breakthrough’s gender transformative schools initiatives here and FAWE’s Tuseme initiative here.

“To ensure that girls and women fully benefit from digital learning, development partners and Governments must incorporate online safety training and ensure digital solutions are inclusive, reaching marginalised communities and learners with disabilities. Investments in infrastructure are crucial to leaving no learner behind.”

Martha Muhwezi, FAWE Africa 

Despite noteworthy discussions related to safety in education in CIES this year, many 2025 conference participants noted a lack of vibrant participation from Global South attendees. With the current global climate shaking the foundations of this work throughout many countries, there were several reports of prospective attendees unable to obtain visas or canceling their in-person travel plans for fear of being denied entry. Even in ‘normal’ times, obtaining a visa for countries where global conferences are typically held creates roadblocks for many practitioners doing the work in the Global South. 

Such international conferences offer vital opportunities for leaders across the disciplines of education, children’s rights and violence prevention to convene, share their learning, and arrive at consensus around what collective action should look like to transform learning institutions into safer, more equitable spaces. Where deliberations on programming in the Global South are concerned, these dialogues need Global South practitioners to be able to speak first-hand to the learnings and innovations emerging from their contexts (in the spirit of ‘nothing about us, without us‘).

To do this, robust participation and wide representation is critical, and adaptation is required. We look forward to seeing resolve and commitment from the education sector and the international community to ensure that the global conversations needed to navigate our daily work are not leaving out those voices most needed in this moment.

“The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the need for educational systems to be resilient, adaptable, and inclusive; it has also exposed deep-rooted inequalities, particularly in access to digital resources and support structures…strategic use of digital platforms not merely as temporary solutions but as transformative tools can reshape educational practices and policies in favour of a more just and equitable future.”

Sunita Menon, Breakthrough India