In this blog, Cody Ragonese talks about a panel titled “Don’t Forget About the Boys: Educational Equity in LMIC Contexts”. The blog argues:
“Supporting boys’ engagement in education does not mean restricting girls’ advancement. When boys’ education includes learning values relating to gender equality, boys not only enhance their own well-being but also become powerful allies in the movement for a more just and equal society.”
By Ayman Qwaider
When people ask me where I’m from, I say it with both pride and pain: Gaza. A land known for its resilience, resistance, and reality. Born and raised in the Gaza Strip, I was shaped by a world wrapped in layers—layers of occupation, separation, blockade, and yet, despite it all, education.
From public and UN schools to university halls in Gaza, I studied in classrooms where power outages interrupted lessons, and the hum of drones sometimes replaced the sound of school bells. But even amidst such chaos, I learned. Not just from books, but from the environment around me. It taught me patience. It taught me grit. And above all, it taught me the power of connection.
I remember vividly the thrill of a simple email pinging into my inbox from outside Gaza. It felt like a beam of light breaking through concrete. A message—just a few lines—could lift my spirits, give me hope, remind me I was seen. In a place where borders were barricades and movement was luxury, a text message could become a lifeline. Such was the weight of communication in Gaza—where small gestures carried immense meaning.
I began working with international and community-based organizations, including UN agencies. And early on, it became crystal clear to me: education isn’t just about curriculum. It’s about community. It’s about creating space—literal and metaphorical—for educators to unite, learn from one another, and share strategies to overcome the unique obstacles we face. We forged solidarity not just through shared hardship, but through shared hope.
In 2010, I received a scholarship to pursue a Master’s in Peace, Conflict and Development Studies in Spain. Leaving Gaza was more than a trip—it was an act of defiance against the narrative that Gaza was all there was. For so long, Gaza had felt like the whole world, because it was the only world I was allowed to know. But there I was, boarding a plane, stepping into a space where borders didn’t define me.
In Spain, surrounded by students from Iran, Colombia, Morocco, Germany, the US, Nigeria, and beyond, I finally saw the magic of global learning spaces. It was in those conversations—often over meals or late-night debates—that I realized how powerful it is to humanize ourselves by telling our own stories. No filters. No headlines. Just lived experience.
We launched the Gaza Children’s Cinema Initiative, a simple yet revolutionary idea: give children in Gaza a chance to watch movies in safe, child-friendly spaces. Why? Because many of these children had never traveled, never seen different cultures, never experienced joy unfiltered by war or blockade. So we brought the world to them through film—different stories, colors, music, food, landscapes. And then we talked. We sparked imagination in a place where imagination often gets stifled.
For the past 15 years, I’ve been part of global education networks like the Enabling Education Network and the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies. These communities are more than professional spaces—they are lifelines. They are where ideas travel faster than borders, where solidarity stretches across oceans, and where isolated educators feel held, heard, and empowered.
Sometimes, I wake up to voice notes and texts from fellow educators in crisis zones, asking for support, tools, training, or just a digital shoulder to lean on. These messages overwhelm me—not because they’re too many, but because they are proof. Proof that despite conflict, despite trauma, people still believe in the power of education, and the necessity of connection.
And that’s what I’ve dedicated my life to: building bridges across the barricades, lighting up the darkness with learning, and turning isolation into inspiration.
Today in Gaza and the West Bank, Israel’s genocidal regime, and their enablers in too many other governments, are trying to silence the voices of Palestinian educators and break the connections with their peers locally and globally.
Join me and EENET in ensuring these educators, and all educators, are heard and connected.
Ayman is EENET’s Arabic/MENA Network Manager.
Contact:
aymanqwaider@eenet.org.uk
This is a call by young people to invest in education. You can sign their petition on the Global Partnership for Education website.
“As young people from around the world, we are living in a time of challenge and opportunity. Inequality, youth unemployment, conflict, and the rapid pace of digital change are reshaping our futures. In the face of all this, we believe one thing can multiply possibility more than anything else: education.”
Date: 30 September 2025.
Time: 13:00 – 14:00 (UK).
Platform: Zoom.
This is the third episode of the Nurturing Futures webinar series. It will explore how to build early childhood systems that are inclusive by design, not by exception. This session will spotlight how disability-inclusive approaches can transform emergency response and long-term recovery for young children in crisis settings.
The New Humanitarian has published a long article about the declining education system in Venezuela.
“Venezuela once pioneered access to education in Latin America, registering notable achievements under former President Hugo Chávez, who implemented a series of successful reforms – including a mass literacy campaign and meal programmes for students. But years of mismanagement under his successor, President Nicolás Maduro, has led to a severe decline in the quality of education and unprecedented levels of absenteeism. This has come amid an all-encompassing and relentless humanitarian crisis that has marked Maduro’s increasingly authoritarian 12-year rule – pushing nearly eight million Venezuelans to migrate.”
“For this special report, The New Humanitarian travelled to public schools in three different areas of historical and social relevance in Venezuela: the western oil city of Maracaibo; Ciudad Guayana, in the southeastern state of Bolívar; and Margarita Island, up in the north. We spoke with students, parents, grandparents, teachers, and principals to find out how they’re coping with the dramatic decline of the education system. We heard a long laundry list of concerns, but also found slivers of hope.”
“Imagine a school where everyone feels safe, valued, and inspired to learn. At UNESCO, we believe education should foster happiness and well-being. And scientific research confirms our belief: students and teachers thrive in environments that are safe, respectful, and filled with active, joyful learning.”
This video introduces UNESCO’s Global Framework for Happy Schools, built on four pillars: people, process, place, and principles.
In this blog, the authors share key learnings and strategies of their project in Pakistan. The authors write,
“At the start of the research project, most school leaders were aware of disparities in students’ access to education and some were taking steps to address these through attending to students’ basic needs – school uniforms, shoes and books. However, these practices were often ad hoc; few school leaders were investigating, analyzing and promoting inclusion.”
During the project, the authors witnessed the change the project made:
“In the Islamabad and Lahore districts of Pakistan, we observed school leaders gaining confidence to implement meaningful changes in their schools, particularly in addressing issues of enrollment, attendance, and learner engagement for vulnerable children, working children, children with disabilities, girls, and refugee children.”
The Brookings Institute published several articles on “perspectives on agency from adolescent girls” in countries like Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
“Research with girls in marginalized contexts points to the critical need for sustained, collective, and coordinated efforts to address the root causes of oppression and exclusion at multiple levels, fundamentally shift social norms and power dynamics, and expand girls’ ability to more fully exercise agency in their lives and in their communities. Agency is fundamental to full and equal participation, emotional well-being, and improved outcomes—in education, in work, in relationships, and in life.” (Jennifer L. O’Donoghue)
This report from the Center for Global Development highlights that despite rising school access in low- and middle-income countries, learning outcomes remain poor, prompting a shift toward foundational literacy and numeracy. This study uses longitudinal data from Indonesia to link early-grade skills to adult earnings, finding that a one standard deviation increase in foundational skills correlates with an 11% rise in income. The effect is only partly explained by completed schooling and suggests strong economic returns on early education investment.
This new report from Inclusive Futures and Humanity and Inclusion explores how to transform education for refugee children with disabilities, drawing on practical lessons from early childhood development projects in Kenya’s Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee settlements.
It highlights four key strategies: multi-sectoral collaboration, inclusive classroom practices, community-led inclusion teams, and caregiver support groups. The findings underscore that inclusive education in refugee contexts must be holistic, locally adapted, and rooted in community empowerment to overcome systemic barriers and ensure meaningful learning outcomes.
