Publications

Effective school leaders are indispensable for driving school and student learning improvements. Inspired by emerging literature highlighting a positive correlation between female school leaders and learning outcomes and the underrepresentation of women in school leadership, the Women in Learning Leadership project in Chad adopts a gender lens to examine school leadership in the country.

 

This research highlights the significant underrepresentation of women in the education sector in Chad. Only one out of five teachers (20 per cent) and 1 out of 20 school leaders – a mere 5 per cent – are women. The report (in French, with an English Executive Summary) presents the granular and sub-national distribution of women leaders and the multifaceted reasons for their underrepresentation in the Chadian education ecosystem. It also explores the differential education outcomes in schools led by female and male school leaders.

The findings demonstrate that Chad remains a profoundly unequal society, and several barriers at different levels of the education system prevent women from rising into leadership positions. Recommendations targeting the identified barriers are highlighted to enhance female representation at the leadership levels.

This is a translated executive summary of the first report on Women in Learning Leadership in Chad, originally produced in French. The full report in French is available here.

The climate crisis portends catastrophic disruption to lives and livelihoods. However, many of the measures needed to address the crisis present important opportunity for economic development and the creation of new kinds of ethical and decent livelihoods.

If young people are to participate in and benefit from these opportunities, they need the skills for the new jobs in a green economy. To prepare young people, urgent action is needed from government, development partners and the private sector.

Accelerating ‘Green’ School-to-Work Transitions emphasizes the importance of working fast to establish ‘green’ school-to-work transitions and examines some of the most promising approaches to supporting young people as they pursue green livelihoods. It also explores the key challenges to creating better ‘green’ school-to-work transitions. The report provides:
• A new framework for understanding ‘green’ school-to-work transitions
• A holistic overview of what policymakers can do to accelerate green livelihood opportunities for young people
• A step-by-step toolkit that describes ‘green’ school-to-work transitions
• Recommendations for policymakers and others in the field

Des directeurs et directrices d'école efficaces sont indispensables pour améliorer l'apprentissage des élèves et la qualité de l'enseignement. Inspiré par une littérature émergente soulignant une corrélation positive entre les femmes directrices d'école et les résultats d'apprentissage et la sous-représentation des femmes dans la direction des écoles, le projet "Women in Learning Leadership" au Tchad adopte une perspective de genre pour examiner la direction des écoles dans le pays. 

Cette recherche met en évidence la sous-représentation significative des femmes dans le secteur de l'éducation au Tchad. Seul un enseignant sur cinq (20 %) et un chef d'établissement sur vingt (à peine 5 %) sont des femmes. Le rapport (en français, avec un résumé en anglais) présente la distribution détaillée et sous-nationale des femmes leaders et les raisons multiples de leur sous-représentation dans l'écosystème éducatif tchadien. Il explore également les différences de résultats scolaires dans les écoles dirigées par des femmes et des hommes. 

Les résultats démontrent que le Tchad reste une société profondément inégalitaire et que plusieurs obstacles à différents niveaux du système éducatif empêchent les femmes d'accéder à des postes de direction. Des recommandations ciblant les barrières identifiées sont formulées afin d'améliorer la représentation des femmes aux niveaux de direction.

Effective school leaders are indispensable for driving school and student learning improvements. Inspired by emerging literature highlighting a positive correlation between female school leaders and learning outcomes and the underrepresentation of women in school leadership, the Women in Learning Leadership project in Chad adopts a gender lens to examine school leadership in the country.

This research highlights the significant underrepresentation of women in the education sector in Chad. Only one out of five teachers (20 per cent) and 1 out of 20 school leaders – a mere 5 per cent – are women. The report (in French, with an English Executive Summary) presents the granular and sub-national distribution of women leaders and the multifaceted reasons for their underrepresentation in the Chadian education ecosystem. It also explores the differential education outcomes in schools led by female and male school leaders.

The findings demonstrate that Chad remains a profoundly unequal society, and several barriers at different levels of the education system prevent women from rising into leadership positions. Recommendations targeting the identified barriers are highlighted to enhance female representation at the leadership levels.

Including Refugee Learners in National Education Systems identifies key factors that underpin effective inclusion of refugee learners in national education systems and outlines barriers to achieving this goal. 

Based on an in-depth review of global evidence and literature and interviews with key stakeholders in refugee education, the report highlights key findings, including the importance of:

• Government leadership and coordination efforts 
• Effective international cooperation 
• Awareness of policies and guidance with education systems
• Capacity to support refugee inclusion. 

The report presents in-depth country case studies from Ecuador and Rwanda, providing information on diverse regional and country frameworks relating to educational inclusion. 
The Rwanda case study suggests that refugee inclusion in education can be achieved with a broad orientation towards inclusion and non-discrimination, even in the absence of specific policies and strategies focused on refugees. 

The Ecuador case study emphasizes that positive policies do not always filter down to those with responsibility to implement them and highlights the importance of efforts to ensure that teachers, school administrators and district-level staff are aware of new policies and have the capacity to enact them.

Il contesto territoriale influisce sugli aspetti fondamentali della vita quotidiana di ogni bambino, bambina e adolescente. Vivere in un territorio ai margini compromette mette a rischio la possibilità di vedere soddisfatti i propri diritti di cittadinanza e rappresenta può rappresentare una seria minaccia per il benessere e lo sviluppo di chi in queste aree nasce e cresce. La mancanza di servizi e risorse locali è una forma di povertà che tocca tutti i bambini dell’area, indipendentemente della loro situazione familiare, e che condiziona la loro vita presente e futura.

Per questa ragione, UNICEF Innocenti ha avviato un nuovo programma di ricerca intitolato MAPS (Monitoring and Analysing child Poverty across Space). Come studio pilota per questo programma, è stata scelta una delle “aree interne” in Italia, ossia aree isolate caratterizzate da bassa densità di popolazione, spopolamento e indicatori di anzianità elevati.

Il rapporto “Crescere nelle aree interne: Le esperienze di vita di bambini, bambine e adolescenti nel contesto del Cilento Interno” presenta i risultati di questo studio. La ricerca ha coinvolto bambini e adolescenti dai 6 ai 21 anni attraverso una serie di metodi qualitativi e quantitativi, insieme a genitori di bambini dagli 0 ai 5 anni, adulti nella comunità e informatori chiave.

I risultati dell'indagine hanno rivelato un quadro complesso. Mentre alcune caratteristiche del territorio influiscono positivamente sulla crescita dei bambini, altre rischiano di privare i ragazzi e le ragazze di alcune opportunità che sono fondamentali nel periodo della crescita. Le raccomandazioni sottolineano la necessità di una presa di coscienza collettiva sull'urgenza di promuovere lo sviluppo dei territori a partire dalla rinascita delle comunità. È essenziale che gli investimenti siano diretti verso servizi per bambini ed adolescenti al fine di garantire il benessere della comunità e costruire un futuro più promettente.
 

The characteristics of the local area in which children live have a fundamental influence on their daily lives. Growing up in an area that is ‘on the margins’ threatens children’s rights, well-being and development. A lack of local services and resources is a form of poverty that all children and young people in the area experience, irrespective of their family circumstances, and this poverty shapes their lives in the present and in the future.

For this reason, UNICEF Innocenti has initiated a new programme of research – MAPS (Monitoring and Analysing child Poverty across Space). As a pilot for this programme, it selected one of the internal areas of Italy – that is isolated areas characterized by low population density, depopulation and an ageing demographic. 

The report “Growing up in an inner area: The lives of children and adolescents living in inner Cilento” presents the results of this study. The research involved children and adolescents from 6 to 21 years old through a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as parents of children aged 0-5, adults in the community and key informants. 

The results of the research reveal a complex picture. While some characteristics of the area positively influence children’s lives, others risk depriving them of the opportunities that they need when growing up. The recommendations emphasize the need for a collective awareness of the urgent need to promote the development of the area starting with the revival of communities. It is essential that there is greater investment in services for children and young people in order to guarantee community well-being and build a more promising future.

Une distribution équitable des enseignants est un critère primordial pour que chaque enfant puisse développer au mieux son potentiel d’apprentissage, quels que soient son école ou lieu de résidence. 

En Côte d’Ivoire, des progrès significatifs ont été réalisés en termes de recrutement des enseignants en vue d’améliorer l’encadrement pédagogique des élèves. Cependant, leur répartition demeure perfectible puisque les ratios élèves-enseignants varient grandement entre les écoles et au sein de celles-ci. C’est pourquoi, le Ministère de l’éducation nationale et de l’alphabétisation (MENA) a récemment initié la mise en œuvre d’un train de réformes afin d’améliorer la transparence et la réactivité du processus d’allocation des enseignants. 

Ce rapport décrit le paysage enseignant en Côte d’Ivoire, ainsi que les réformes engagées par le MENA, et propose des pistes de réflexion pour améliorer le maillage enseignant dans le pays, afin de favoriser l’accès de tous les enfants à une éducation de qualité. 

 
An equitable distribution of teachers is an essential criterion for ensuring that every child can develop his or her full learning potential, regardless of school or place of residence. 

In Ivory Coast, significant progress has been made in terms of teacher recruitment to maintain manageable class sizes. However, teacher repartition has to be improved, as pupils-teacher ratios vary widely between and within schools. For this reason, the Ministry of National Education and Literacy (MENA) recently initiated a reform package to improve the transparency and responsiveness of the teacher allocation process. 

This report describes the teaching landscape in Ivory Coast, as well as the reforms undertaken by the MENA, and suggests ways to improve the mapping of teachers according to school needs in order to promote access to quality education for all children. 

The digital environment is largely unregulated and might expose children to age-inappropriate or potentially harmful content. There has been particular concern about children’s exposure to hate messages and violent images online and how this affects their well-being and rights. Efforts to mitigate exposure to such content are gaining momentum but more evidence is needed to guide policy, regulation and industry practice. This brief provides a cross-national comparison of children’s exposure to hate messages and violent images online across 36 countries, and analyses it in relation to internet access at the country level. The purpose is to understand what children in different countries are experiencing and if exposure to this content is driven by the level of internet access in the population. The results act as a starting point for exploring which countermeasures may be more effective in terms of policy and legislation, and to encourage industry to develop proactive solutions to protect children in online spaces.

Le système éducatif malien vise à garantir unaccès universel et équitable à une éducationde qualité à tous les enfants maliens en âged’être scolarisés. Malgré les progrès réalisés dans la mise en œuvre d’une éducation de qualité au Mali, il reste certains défis.

Quelles ressources et quels facteurs contextuels sont associés à de bonnes performances scolaires en Mali? En fusionnant et en analysant les bases de données administratives existantes en Mali, ce rapport permet d'identifier les écoles modèles positives - celles qui obtiennent de meilleurs résultats que les autres écoles bien qu'elles partagent des contextes et des ressources similaires.

La recherche DMS sur les modèles positive est cocréée et mise en œuvre conjointement avec les ministères de l'Éducation et des partenaires clés. La recherche DMS s'appuie sur des méthodes mixtes et des approches innovantes (c'est-à-dire l'approche modèle positive, les sciences du comportement, la recherche sur la mise en œuvre et la science de la mise à l'échelle) pour générer des connaissances et des enseignements pratiques sur " ce qui fonctionne ", " pourquoi " et " comment " mettre à l'échelle des solutions locales pour les décideurs politiques nationaux et la communauté internationale travaillant dans le secteur de l'éducation.

La recherche DMS est actuellement mise en œuvre dans 14 pays : Brésil, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Éthiopie, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Népal, Niger, République démocratique populaire lao, République-Unie de Tanzanie, Tchad, Togo et Zambie.

In the 21st century, children’s identities are evolving, shaped by forces such as globalization, urbanization, demographic transition, climate change, digitalization, the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitics. Identity is also at the heart of how many young people experience discrimination. Such experiences have led young people, in particular, to question entrenched beliefs, traditions, inequities and injustices related to identity.

These questions were at the heart of Leading Minds 2022, a conference held in by UNICEF Innocenti in Florence in November 2022. The conference involved leading scholars, scientists, innovators, influencers, philanthropists, governments and young people who gathered to discuss identity and the need to build positive child identities. This publication provides insight on this critical conversation. 

Child-related Policies in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 40 Countries uses evidence to present a broad-ranging analysis of the child-related policies and activities undertaken by the 40 European Union (EU) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This working paper focuses on six policy fields: education, early childhood education and care (ECEC), parental leave, income support, food support and health-related provision. 

It concludes that:

Child and family policy was active during the COVID-19 pandemic

Developments tended to focus on protecting adults from risks rather than children.

Child-related measures took time to evolve and were, as a result, reactive in manner

There was a wide variety of measures adopted across countries.

This working paper was partially funded by the University of Oxford and UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight.

In the Latin America and Caribbean region, more than 19 million children have a disability. In Jamaica, disability is a major factor of exclusion from the education system. The Accessible Digital Textbooks for All (ADT) initiative, implements accessible digital tools and content to make learning accessible to all students – with and without disabilities – in the same classroom.

This report presents the research results of the ADT prototypes testing for children with and without disabilities in Jamaica. The report provides results across three areas:
• It analyses teachers’ and students’ familiarity with technology, including their experience utilizing technology to support education and learning.
• It investigates the pedagogical practices used for inclusive education and to integrate the ADT prototypes as tools to support inclusion and learning. 
• It recommends ways to improve the prototypes and outlines elements needed for their further development, implementation and scale-up in the education system.

This study is part of longer-term research that examines the implementation of accessible digital textbooks in multiple countries. Future research aims to explore the impact of the use of ADTs on both student learning and inclusion on a larger scale.

This evidence-to-policy brief is based on a rapid evidence assessment of the effectiveness of social and behaviour change (SBC)-informed interventions to reduce both violence against children and intimate partner violence in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It is intended as a user-friendly overview for anyone with an interest in learning about the broad possibilities of addressing violence provided by SBC-informed parenting initiatives. 

The assessment aims to: 
• Appraise the available evidence on the effectiveness of SBC-informed interventions that target parents and caregivers in reducing violence against children in the home
• Assess the impact of parenting interventions on reducing co-occurring intimate partner violence
• Identify the theories underpinning SBC-informed interventions and the settings in which SBC interventions work and for whom
• Evaluate the costs and cost-effectiveness of SBC-informed parenting interventions 
• Identify relevant contextual factors, including population groups, intervention characteristics and the implementation considerations required for successfully delivering SBC-informed parenting interventions.

The findings indicate that:
• There is a robust evidence base demonstrating that parenting programmes informed by SBC can be effective in reducing violence perpetrated against children by parents in LMICs, provided the programmes are implemented by trained facilitators
• Co-occurrence of intimate partner violence can also be reduced through SBC-informed parenting programmes
• Local resources and personnel can help keep programme costs low
• SBC-informed parenting programmes may be transferable to different contexts, populations and settings in LMICs. Some studies suggested programmes were successfully implemented in humanitarian settings and for parents of children of various ages. Implementation in new settings, however, should be accompanied by quality monitoring and evaluation.