CSW 55 2011- ON LINE DISCUSSION -Participate!

In preparation for the fifty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Division for the Advancement of Women is organizing an online discussion on the linkages between women’s and girls' access to and participation in formal and non-formal education and training, and their equal access to full employment and decent work. The discussion will contribute to the findings and recommendations presented to the Commission on the Status of Women.

Listen to the podcast
Listen to the podcast

To launch the discussion, the Division and UN Radio organized a radio podcast on gender, education and employment, with the following participants:




Carolyn Medel-Añonuevo is the Deputy Director/Senior Programme Coordinator of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, a research institute of UNESCO promoting non-formal education, literacy and adult education in the perspective of lifelong learning. A sociologist coming from the Philippines, she has been working in the field of women's education for the last 25 years.

May Rihani is Senior Vice President of the Academy for Educational Development (AED), a non-profit organization active in more than 150 countries, and Director of the AED Global Learning Group. She is responsible for educational reform programmes in multiple African and Middle Eastern countries, and focuses on ensuring gender equality in AED’s educational projects and social development programmes. She has addressed girls’ education at a large number of international conferences.

Sakena Yacoobi is President and Executive Director of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), an Afghan women-led NGO serving 350,000 women and children each year through its educational learning centers, schools, training and clinics in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ms. Yacoobi is an Ashoka Fellow, has won numerous awards for her international work in peace and human rights and serves on over 15 affiliated group panels and boards.


Participate in the online discussion

Hello and welcome to all of you,

My name is Hélène Gandois, and I am the moderator for this online discussion on gender, education and employment which will run in both English and French until Tuesday 20 July.

What we would like to discuss here are the linkages between education and employment. Much progress has been made over the last decades with regards to access to education and training for women and girls, but less is known about the extent to which this has been translated into improved employment opportunities. I look forward to hearing your views.

To participate, you need to sign up through IntenseDebate, the software we are using for this discussion. To do so, click on the ‘signup’ link below. Once you are logged in, you will be able to post comments by hitting the ‘reply’ button under any of the questions, or if you wish to reply to a comment made by another participant, by hitting the ‘reply’ button under their post.

Thank you in advance for respecting the following ground rules. Messages should:
· Be in English (in the English thread) or French (in the French thread)
· Be kept brief
· Contain no insulting language or statements
· Contain your name, country, and organization (if any) at the end of your message

If you have any difficulty, do not hesitate to contact me at csw55moderator@gmail.com.

And now, let’s get started. I look forward to your insights!

Hélène