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Task Force on Education and Gender

The Task Force on Education and Gender comprises two groups that will produce two separate Reports, though the groups work closely together. The education group is systematically analyzing the means to achieve dramatic improvements in education in the developing world, and to highlight priority actions for both developing and developed countries. The gender group has taken a broad look at the goal of gender empowerment within the framework of enhancing women's capabilities, opportunities and security in order to meet the Goal. The group is highlighting priority areas of action which include and go beyond the issue of gender disparity in education.

According to the Task Force on Education and Gender Equality, 2005, "There are many practical steps that can be taken to reduce inequalities based on gender, which hinder the potential to reduce poverty and achieve high levels of well-being in societies around the world. Those detailed in Taking Action include strengthening opportunities, increasing access, investing in infrastructure, guaranteeing rights, eliminating inequality in employment, increasing women's representation in government and reducing violence against girls and women."
The UN Millennium Project Task Force on Education and Gender Equality spent two years analyzing education initiatives around the world with the understanding that better education is fundamental to improving economic and social conditions in poor countries. The Task Force on Education and Gender Equality offered a series of recommendations focusing on developing countries and and donor countries to improve both quality and access to schooling. For developing countries, these include:

Educating girls and women to break the cycle of low education: Support adult literacy programmes designed for women and young girls.
Encouraging hard-to-reach children to attend school: Depending on local conditions, introduce and scale up specific interventions such as removing school fees, introducing conditional cash transfers and school feeding programmes, and actions to improve the security of girls, as ways of attracting out-of-school children to school.
Enhancing post-primary education: Identify and implement strategies to increase access to post- primary education especially in cases of unequal access.
Improving accountability through local control: Promote mechanisms for local control of education, in which parents and other citizens are given an explicit role in holding schools and teachers accountable for delivering results.
Improving the quality and availability of information: Focus efforts on improving transparency at the school level, and data and programme evaluation at the national level.
Setting international standards to assess acquisition of skills and knowledge: Establish a clear way of understanding what children are learning and where they are deficient.
Strengthening the role of civil society organizations: Create an environment in which civil society organizations are recognized as legitimate participants in debates about the education system.