Pan-African Parliament Women’s Caucus Calls for Stronger Laws to Advance Girls’ Education at UN CSW70

New York, United States – Members of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Women’s Caucus have called for stronger legislative action and policy reforms to advance girls’ education and gender equality in Africa during the 70th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) at UN Headquarters. Speaking at a side event organized by the African Union International Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Education in Africa (AU/CIEFFA), lawmakers emphasized the critical role of parliaments in translating continental commitments on education and women’s rights into effective national laws, oversight mechanisms, and budgetary priorities aimed at removing barriers that prevent millions of African girls from accessing and completing quality education.

The event, organized by the African Union International Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Education in Africa (AU/CIEFFA), brought together policymakers, parliamentarians, development partners, and civil society organizations to discuss strategies for expanding access to quality education for girls and women across the continent.

The Pan-African Parliament delegation participating in CSW70 used the platform to highlight both the progress made and the persistent structural barriers preventing many African girls from accessing and completing their education.

      1.    Conflict, Poverty, and Structural Barriers Continue to Affect Girls’ Education

Speaking during the session, Hon. Amina Tidjani underscored the urgent challenges facing girls’ education in many parts of Africa.

She noted that armed conflicts, humanitarian crises, and forced displacement continue to disrupt education systems and disproportionately affect girls, increasing the likelihood of school dropout.

According to her, poverty, early marriage, insecurity, and inadequate school infrastructure remain major obstacles to education for girls, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected regions.

Hon. Tidjani emphasized the need for sustained investment in education systems and stronger policy responses to ensure safe learning environments for girls.

She reaffirmed the commitment of the Pan-African Parliament to supporting gender-responsive education policies, protecting schools and learners in conflict-affected areas, and promoting continental initiatives aimed at expanding access to quality education.

      2.    Translating Continental Commitments into National Laws

During the same event, Hon. Mirriam Chonya, Member of the Pan-African Parliament from Zambia, highlighted the critical role of legislative reform in accelerating progress on girls’ and women’s education across Africa.

She observed that while Africa has adopted strong continental commitments on gender equality and education, the central challenge lies in translating these commitments into effective national legislation, policies, and budgetary priorities.

From the perspective of the Pan-African Parliament and its Women’s Caucus, advancing girls’ education requires inclusive legislative systems, accountable governance, and sustained policy reform.

Hon. Chonya noted that education remains a strategic pillar of Africa’s transformation agenda, particularly within the framework of Agenda 2063, which places women and youth at the centre of sustainable development.

She referenced several continental and global instruments that reinforce the right of girls and women to quality education, including:

1. the Continental Education Strategy for Africa
2. the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol)
3. the Sustainable Development Goals

Despite encouraging progress in expanding enrolment at primary and secondary levels, she cautioned that significant disparities persist across the continent, particularly affecting girls in rural communities, fragile contexts, and low-income households.

Early marriage, adolescent pregnancy, poverty, and discriminatory social norms continue to undermine educational opportunities for many girls across Africa.

      3.    Legislative Harmonisation and Domestication of AU Instruments

Hon. Chonya further stressed that one of the most pressing challenges facing the continent is the slow domestication and legislative harmonisation of African Union commitments within national legal frameworks.

She pointed to several factors contributing to the gap between continental commitments and national implementation, including:

1. limited awareness among legislators of African Union instruments
2. inadequate legislative review processes
3. weak parliamentary oversight mechanisms
4. insufficient budgetary allocations for gender-responsive education policies.

According to her, parliaments have a central role to play in bridging this gap by ensuring that national laws align with continental commitments on gender equality and education.

     4.    Pan-African Parliament’s Role in Advancing Legislative Reform

The Pan-African Parliament, she explained, plays a catalytic role in promoting legislative harmonisation and supporting Member States in translating African Union commitments into national legislation.

One of the key tools used by the Parliament is the development of Model Laws, which serve as legislative guides for Member States.

These include model frameworks addressing:

1. gender equality and equity
2. labour migration
3. disability rights

Many of these instruments contain provisions designed to strengthen protections for girls within education systems, including measures to prevent child marriage, address school-related gender-based violence, and support the reintegration of adolescent mothers into education.

Hon. Chonya also highlighted the importance of collaboration between parliaments, civil society organizations, and development partners in strengthening legislative protections for girls’ education.

     5.    Parliamentary Oversight and Regional Engagement

Beyond legislative development, the Pan-African Parliament also promotes parliamentary oversight to ensure that national governments implement education commitments effectively.

Through its committees and caucuses, PAP encourages national parliaments to review domestic legislation and align it with African Union frameworks such as the Maputo Protocol and the Continental Education Strategy for Africa.

Equally important, she said, is ensuring adequate national budget allocations for gender-responsive education policies that enable girls not only to enrol in school but also to remain and succeed in the education system.

The Parliament also conducts regional consultations across Africa’s five regions, which provide platforms for dialogue, peer learning, and monitoring progress in the domestication of African Union instruments.

6.    Implications for AU Policy and Legislative Reform

The interventions at CSW70 highlight a recurring structural challenge within the African Union policy ecosystem: the persistent gap between continental normative commitments and national implementation. While Africa has adopted robust frameworks on gender equality and education including the Maputo Protocol, the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA), and the broader development agenda under Agenda 2063 many Member States have yet to fully domesticate these instruments into national legislation and budgetary frameworks.

For AU institutions, the discussion underscores the need to strengthen mechanisms that support legislative harmonisation across Member States. The Pan-African Parliament’s model laws and parliamentary diplomacy initiatives can play a catalytic role in this regard by providing practical legislative templates and encouraging peer learning among national parliaments. More systematic collaboration between the Pan-African Parliament, AU specialised agencies such as AU/CIEFFA, and national legislatures could accelerate the translation of policy commitments into enforceable domestic frameworks.

The conversation also reinforces the importance of parliamentary oversight and budget accountability. Legislative bodies across Africa are increasingly expected not only to ratify AU instruments but to ensure that governments allocate adequate resources to gender-responsive education policies. Strengthening parliamentary capacity to scrutinise national education budgets and monitor policy implementation will therefore be essential in closing the gap between commitments and outcomes.

Finally, the renewed emphasis on campaigns such as #AfricaEducatesHer suggests that legislative reform must be accompanied by broader social and institutional change. Removing barriers to girls’ education requires coordinated action across sectors including legal reform to address child marriage and gender-based violence, investment in safe school infrastructure, and policies that support the reintegration of adolescent mothers into education systems.

Taken together, the discussions at CSW70 reaffirm that advancing girls’ education in Africa is not only a social priority but also a governance and legislative reform agenda, requiring stronger alignment between AU policy frameworks and national legal systems.

These consultations enable parliamentarians to exchange legislative best practices, undertake fact-finding missions, and engage governments and development partners in multi-stakeholder dialogue.

      7.    Advancing the #AfricaEducatesHer Campaign

The side event also highlighted the ongoing #AfricaEducatesHer campaign, which seeks to mobilize political commitment and legislative action to remove barriers preventing girls from accessing education.

Through collaboration with AU/CIEFFA, Members of the Pan-African Parliament have been encouraged to serve as ambassadors for girls’ education and champions of legislative reform in their respective countries.

      8.    A Continental Commitment to Girls’ Education

As discussions at CSW70 continue, the Pan-African Parliament reiterated its commitment to working with the African Union, Member States, and international partners to strengthen legislative advocacy and ensure that continental commitments translate into concrete national reforms.

Participants emphasized that investing in girls’ education remains one of the most effective strategies for advancing gender equality, promoting inclusive development, and strengthening Africa’s long-term economic and social transformation.

“When Africa invests in girls’ education,” Hon. Chonya noted, “it invests in leadership, equality, and sustainable development for generations to come.