2023 UNESCO Prize For Girls’ And Women’s Education – The governments of the UNESCO Member States and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in official collaboration with UNESCO are advised to nominate up to three people, institutions, or groups that have made remarkable achievements to support girls’ and women’s education.

The UNESCO Award for Girls’ and Women’s Education recognizes exceptional innovation and contributions made by people, institutions, and organizations to enhance the education of girls and women. It is the first award of this kind from UNESCO and will be special in that it will highlight innovative initiatives that enhance and advance the educational opportunities for women and girls and, as a result, the standard of their lives.

The International Jury, which was made up of five specialists in the field of girls’ and women’s education, made recommendations to the Director-General of UNESCO who then chose the two winners of the first award. In June 2016, two excellent initiatives from Indonesia and Zimbabwe received the Award for the first time at a formal event in Beijing, People’s Republic of China.

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UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education Requirements

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:
supporting girls/adolescent girls to transition from primary education to lower secondary education and to complete full basic education;
supporting adolescent girls and young women to acquire literacy skills;
supporting the creation of a gender-responsive and safe teaching-learning environment, free of school-related gender-based violence;
engaging female and male teachers to develop gender-responsive teaching attitudes and practices and be change agents;
or 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.

Date, Procedure, Location For The UNESCO Award For Girls’ And Women’s Education Interview

The two Prize winners will be chosen by the Director-General of UNESCO based on the recommendations provided by the five-person international jury, which is independent and represents all regions of the world, for the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education.

The Jury will evaluate the nominee’s project or program using the following standards:

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.
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.
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.

How to Apply

Governments of UNESCO Member States via their Permanent Delegations to UNESCO and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in official partnership with UNESCO can make up to 3 nominations. Self-nominations are not accepted.

Who can be nominated?

Individuals, institutions, or organizations advancing girls’ and women’s education are eligible for nomination.Nominations must focus on an established project or programme of the candidate, which has been running for at least two years, and meets the selection criteria.

How to be nominated?

Self-nominations are not accepted. If you, your institution, or organization meet the selection criteria, please contact your country’s National Commission to UNESCO or a relevant NGO in official Partnership with UNESCO.

Please check the Prize’s explanatory note for more information.

How to nominate?

Nominations can be submitted via the dedicated online platform in English or French by a National Commission or Permanent Delegation to UNESCO of the concerned Member State, or by an NGO in official partnership with UNESCO.Nominations submitted by a Member State’s National Commission must be validated by the Permanent Delegation. Nominations from an NGO in official partnership with UNESCO must be validated by the organization’s headquarters. Nominations from country branches or affiliated offices will not be accepted.
National Commissions and Permanent Delegations to UNESCO may access the online submissions platform through their official UNESCO account using the following link: http://unesco.org/gwe.NGOs in official partnership with
UNESCO will be granted direct access to the online platform by the Secretariat upon request. To request access, please contact [email protected].
Member States and NGOs in official partnership may request that candidates complete the online nomination form directly.Access to the platform will be granted to candidates by the Prize Secretariat upon request from the nominating entity (National Commission, Permanent Delegation or NGO in official Partnership with UNESCO). Requests should be sent to [email protected] by 15 May 2023.
Once the online form is completed by the candidate, the nominating entity will be required to review and validate the submission.
Nominations must be submitted via the online platform by midnight of 19 May 2023 (UTC+1, Paris time). Kindly note that a nominating entity (Member State or NGO in official partnership with UNESCO) may not submit more than three nominations.

For any question regarding the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education or the submission process, please contact the Secretariat of the Prize at the Section of Education for Inclusion and Gender Equality at [email protected].

For more details, visit UNESCO website