Profiles
Ghalia Ghawi
Education Research Specialist
Ghalia supports the implementation and expansion of the research on foundational learning (pre-primary and primary education). She provides technical guidance and support to UNICEF field offices and governments to ensure dissemination and country-level use of research and learning assessment data for equitable and effective education sector policies and plans.
Prior to her current role, Ghalia worked as a quantitative research specialist at the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development in Jordan, where she led a quantitative research portfolio. In this role, she managed research projects that aimed to promote data-driven policy decisions in partnership with policymakers in the country. Some of these projects included: an in-depth exploration of parental engagement with and knowledge of their children aged below six, a national teacher survey that replicated the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) for benchmarking, and an analysis of student learning outcomes from large scale international assessments (i.e., PISA and TIMSS). She also worked as a regional research specialist for the Middle East at Mercy Corps, where she supported the development of a regional research agenda and research across the region. Ghalia holds an MSc in Education (Child Development and Education) from the University of Oxford, and a BSc in Psychology from the University of York.
Publications
Publication
Building Bright Futures: How to integrate Ukraine's refugee children through early childhood education and care
Nine out of every 10 refugees arriving in host countries from Ukraine are women and children. Only 1 in 3 of Ukrainian refugee children are enrolled in early childhood education and care services. This emphasizes the need for expanding and strengthening early childhood education systems to ensure sufficient access for all children, and the integration of Ukranian refugee children in the host-community. These briefs offer recommendations for policymakers on ways to expand services, and how to facilitate the integration of refugee children and their families. Strategies include limiting the barriers that may hinder refugee children's access to ECEC settings, capitalizing existing physical and human resources to address gaps in service delivery, in addition to the inclusion of refugees in national and sub-national plans, data systems and financing, adapting policies and programmes to ensure considerations are made for refugee children.
Publication
Building Bright Futures: What is needed to expand early childhood education and care for Ukraine's refugee children
Nine out of every 10 refugees arriving in host countries from Ukraine are women and children. Only 1 in 3 of Ukrainian refugee children are enrolled in early childhood education and care services. This emphasizes the need for expanding and strengthening early childhood education systems to ensure sufficient access for all children, and the integration of Ukranian refugee children in the host-community. These briefs offer recommendations for policymakers on ways to expand services, and how to facilitate the integration of refugee children and their families. Strategies include limiting the barriers that may hinder refugee children's access to ECEC settings, capitalizing existing physical and human resources to address gaps in service delivery, in addition to the inclusion of refugees in national and sub-national plans, data systems and financing, adapting policies and programmes to ensure considerations are made for refugee children.
Articles
Blog
Right from the start: Advancing gender equality through early childhood education
Gender transformative Early Childhood Education has incredible potential to change the lives of children, their families and communities around the world by addressing gender inequality in the earliest years of a child’s life.