Paper short abstract:

130 million girls are still denied their right to school. Interviews with women leaders identify their role in changing social norms holding back girls' education and highlight the importance of coalitions to support collective voice and learning on what works for girls' education.

Paper long abstract:

The benefits of girls' education are clear, yet 130 million girls are still denied their right to school and many are not learning the basics. A growing evidence base shows what works to support marginalised girls' education. However, this is not sufficiently translating into action. We interviewed ten senior women political leaders who have championed girls' education to explore their motivations to act and experiences of promoting gender equality in education. The interviews identified that motivations were often grounded in women leaders' own experiences of education and gender inequality. Importantly, their involvement in coalitions for girls' education (notably the Forum for African Women Educationalists) support their ability to mobilise and to become game changers. These coalitions also enable cross-context learning from successful programmes to challenge gender discrimination in education. Women leaders also highlighted the importance of having stronger accountability structures to hold all aspects of political leadership to account, including elected politicians as well as senior civil servants. They further noted the need to work closely with grassroots leaders to ensure policies are in line with community needs and have their support in implementation. The role of women leaders specifically was recognised as being important to enable a change in perception about the roles that girls and women can play in society. Based on these findings, we present a framework that demonstrates the importance of collective action to ensure progress towards quality education for all girls.