What Works to Promote Human Rights and Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls in Schools

Communities in the Pacific region have long demonstrated remarkable resilience and strength in the face of change and adversities. Today, the region faces multiple and intersecting challenges, including the ever-increasing dangers of climate change, unacceptably high levels of violence against women and girls, and high rates of teen suicides.

Equipping the younger generations of Pacific Islanders with the capacity to make good, considered decisions, work collaboratively and peacefully, and to think critically and creatively is necessary to ensure Pacific countries’ sustainable future.

The education system is one of the key settings for building the younger generation’s capacity and promoting human rights. With over 14,688 primary schools, 1,065 secondary schools, 2.9 million students and 81,800 teachers across the Pacific region, the education system provides near-universal reach to children and young people in their formative years.

Alongside comprehensive social change interventions across other settings, evidence-based education programmes can help drive the generational change needed to promote human rights, promote gender equality, and prevent violence against women and girls across the Pacific region.

This ‘What Works’ paper documents the learnings of the implementation of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Social Citizenship Education programme in 152 schools across Kiribati, the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

It is the first paper to be released in 2022 as part of a series of knowledge products led by UN Women under the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) programme, in collaboration with partners such as SPC and civil society organisations partners like the House of Sarah, under the Pacific Partnership. The programme is funded primarily by the European Union, and the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, and UN Women, and is led by the Pacific Community, UN Women, and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

Read in full here, as well as on SPC’s website here. You can also access the launch media release here.