Key messages for the Education International delegation to the UNCSW70
Overall theme
Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers.
Priority theme: Strengthening access to justice for women and girls
1. Education is foundational to justice.
Equitable legal systems begin with inclusive, publicly funded education that empowers women and girls to know their rights, claim them, and shape democratic institutions. Education is a public good and a prerequisite for access to justice.
2. Teachers’ rights are women’s rights.
With women forming the majority of the education workforce globally, eliminating discriminatory laws and ensuring labour protections, collective bargaining rights, and safe workplaces are central to gender justice.
3. Address structural barriers through public investment.
Underfunded education systems perpetuate inequality. Governments must invest in quality public education and social protections to dismantle systemic barriers that limit women’s access to justice and opportunity.
Review theme: Women’s participation in public life & eliminating violence
1. Women educators are democratic leaders.
Women teachers are leaders in classrooms, unions, and communities. Ensuring their equal participation in decision-making strengthens democracy and advances gender-responsive public policy.
2. End gender-based violence in and around schools.
School Related Gender Based Violence (SRGBV) against women educators and students — including harassment and discrimination — undermines participation in public life. Governments must implement strong legal protections, safe reporting systems, and survivor-centered responses.
3. Social dialogue is essential.
Women must have a seat at policy tables — from school governance to national reform — through meaningful social dialogue with education unions and civil society. The principle of “nothing about us without us” is central here. From community fora to high-level panels, women must be included in dialogue and decisions to create the conditions for their full participation in public life, without threat of violence.
Key focus area: justice & legal reform
1. Invest in gender-responsive justice systems.
Legal reforms must include trauma-informed mechanisms that protect women educators and students experiencing violence, discrimination, or labour rights violations.
2. Remove discriminatory laws affecting women workers.
Laws that restrict union rights, equal pay, maternity protections, or employment security disproportionately harm women educators and must be repealed.
3. Protect education as a public good.
Privatization and austerity weaken accountability and access to justice. Strong public institutions are essential to equitable legal systems.
Key focus area: safety & equality
1. Close economic and property gaps through education.
Quality education enables women’s economic independence and participation. Removing barriers to property ownership and economic opportunity requires sustained public investment in education and decent work.
2. Ensure digital transformation advances equality.
AI and education technologies must be rights-based, gender-responsive, and teacher-led to prevent reinforcing bias or widening inequalities.
3. Address technology-facilitated violence.
Online harassment, doxxing, and AI-enabled abuse disproportionately target women educators. Governments must regulate digital platforms and protect workers’ rights in digital spaces.