Teaching Gender to Youth: Education Outreach in Malawi
This spring the United Nations University Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme (UNU-GEST), in collaboration with the Icelandic Embassy in Malawi, organized a short course on Teaching Gender to Youth in Mangochi, Malawi.
The group of 56 participants included teaching students, teachers and education administrators. Icelandic teachers Kristin Ragnarsdottir and Thordur Kristinsson, both of whom have experience in teaching gender and equality studies to youth, led the course, which lasted five days and was carried out in cooperation with the District Education Manager (DEM) Office in Mangochi, under the Iceland funded Mangochi Basic Service Programme (MBSP II).
The goal of the short course is to support women and promote gender equality in Malawi. The course tackles several key aspects of introducing gender studies at elementary and high school levels, from generating political and institutional will to inaugurate the programs, to curriculum development, teaching and student organizing.
From 2013 the UNU-GEST programme, with support from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has received 20 students from Malawi to its programme. Teaching Gender to Youth attests to the continued importance of the programme‘s cooperation with Malawi. In the future, UNU-GEST plans to implement this course in other countries, drawing on the experience gained in Malawi.
