Cascading international norms in gender education, and their impact on domestic policy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Gender education, and in particular gender equality in education, has been a prominent topic on the global development agenda over the past few decades. The need to achieve gender equality, gender parity and access to education for girl children, have been key global education goals, evident in the numerous international and domestic education policies which have emerged. This paper seeks to understand the role that cascading international gender education norms have on national gender education policies. Since the launch of the first international convention focusing on gender education in 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), significant progress has been made by the international community in guiding, developing and driving international norms that have helped to shape domestic gender education policy reforms. The importance of gender education has largely been driven by a growing concern around the prevalence of poverty and the lack of significant development in developing countries. The low rates of education amongst girl children and the sustained marginalization of girls in these countries have necessitated the development of specific gender education norms. Additionally, the growing evidence of the many benefits of educating girls and ensuring girl children receive equal access and opportunity has also necessitated the development of these norms. This research paper analyses the impact that international norms and policies have on gender education policies in SSA countries, by focusing on two countries, Rwanda and Uganda.