ERICC UCL Virtual Seminar: Current Knowledge Production and Approaches to Girls' Education in Conflict- and Crisis-Affected Contexts

INEE, IOE - UCL’s Institute of Education, and the ERICC consortium invite you to a virtual Seminar as part of a Seminar series which aims to promote dialogue and synergy between emerging findings from the Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) programme and the work of scholars and practitioners in the field. The Seminar series will feature methodologies and emerging knowledge and offer space for inclusive cross-dialogue between academics, students, researchers and other experts in the field of education in conflict and protracted crises. 

In this seminar, which will bring together scholars from the Centre for Education and International Development (CEID), Institute of Education (IOE), University College London (UCL), Dr Amy North and Dr Vanessa Ozawa will present the findings from a rigorous evidence review. The review examines promising approaches for improving access, continuity, and the quality of education for the most marginalised girls in conflict and crisis settings. Conducted as part of the ERICC programme, the study critically evaluates existing research and interventions, while identifying knowledge gaps.

The event will also open space for reflection on approaches for girls’ education in conflict-prone settings, emphasising the need for broader socio-political and economic perspectives, particularly given the multidimensional and protracted nature of conflict and crisis. This conversation is especially timely, as the world faces rising violence and uncertainty, and the international development sector contends with mounting challenges, including significant budget cuts that disproportionately affect those most in need. In such settings, girls, often among the most marginalised, continue to face entrenched inequalities. The seminar will invite participants to reflect on how both the academic and wider communities can contribute to addressing these persistent gaps in knowledge and practice.

CHAIR

Tejendra Pherali is Professor of Education, Conflict and Peace at IOE, University College London where he leads research and teaching on Education, Conflict and Peacebuilding. He developed a pioneering Masters programme in Conflict, Emergencies and Peace at UCL. Currently, he co-directs the Education Research in Conflict and Crisis (ERICC), a global research and learning partnership that strives to transform education policy and practice in conflict and protracted crisis around the world, through building a global hub for rigorous, context-relevant and actionable evidence base. He is the former Chair of British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE), and the editor of Education and Conflict Review. Tejendra is the author of Conflict, Education and Peace in Nepal (Bloomsbury, 2022) and co-author of Laboratories of Learning: Social Movements, Education and Knowledge-Making in the Global South (Pluto Press, 2024)

DISCUSSANT 

Elaine Unterhalter is a Professor of Education and International Development at the UCL IOE. She works on themes concerned with gender, race and class inequalities and their bearing on education. Her specialist interests are in the capability approach and human development and education in a number of countries in Africa, with a special interest in South Africa. Her current concerns are with education, poverty, addressing intersectional inequalities and global social justice. She has been working on questions concerning indicators and the analysis of data to support international, national and local initiatives for change.

SPEAKERS

Amy North is Associate Professor in Education and International Development at the UCL IOE Centre for Education and International Development (CEID). Her research is concerned with understanding inequalities in and through education in low-income contexts and contexts affected by migration and displacement, with a particular focus on the experiences of girls and women. She is the gender lead for the global research team for the ERICC programme. She is the co-author (with Elaine Unterhalter) of Education, poverty and global goals for gender equality: How people make policy happen (Routledge, 2017), and co-editor (with Elaine Chase) of Education, Migration and Development: Critical perspectives in a moving world (Bloomsbury, 2023).

Vanessa Ozawa is an Education Researcher at the International Rescue Committee, working on the ERICC programme with a focus on gender, inclusivity, social justice, and peacebuilding. She previously worked with the UKRI/GCRF-funded research network on the Political Economy of Education (PEER Network) in Central Asia and has several years’ experience as a development practitioner, primarily on JICA-funded ODA education projects. She holds a PhD from Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan, where her research examined the role of education in shaping youth national identities in post-Soviet Uzbekistan through the intersection of ethnicity, gender, and religion. She also holds an MA in EID from UCL IOE and an MA in pedagogy from Université Bordeaux III.

The recording of this webinar and all presentations will be posted on the INEE website. If you have any questions about the webinar, contact [email protected].