Panel Conversation: Improving Rural Girls Access to Education: how integrating solutions to transport poverty reduces systemic barriers

On 5 April Giving Women in partnership with World Bicycle Relief hosted an online panel discussion on how mobility and transport poverty are a significant barrier in girls attending and staying in school. Our stellar panel, Safeena Hussain, Founder of Euducate Girls, Nicole Haberland, Senior Associate for the Population Council, Winnie Sambu, Research and Evaluation Manager, World Bicycle Relief and Susan Silika, National Director of CAMFED Malawi, were elegantly and insightfully moderated by Lauren Rumble, Associate Director Gender Equality at UNICEF. An enormous thank you to all their thoughtful, reflective and wise contributions.

All the speakers recognised how the pandemic had affected the attendance and retention of girls attending school. Distance was identified as one of the main barriers, which included safety and health of the girls travelling long distances.  Safeena Hussain strongly stressed that for a real change to happen we have to address the 4 Ps: Patriarchy, Poverty, Policy and the Pandemic. For those who were not able to attend and for those who wish to revisit the panel discussion please click on the image above to view the recording.

You may also wish to read this written description of the panel discussion produced by Susan Bornstein of World Bicycle Relief and you can check out the Chatbox from the panel by clicking on the button below. The chatbox includes links to valuable additional resources on the subject matter.