Tag Archives: mindsets

AMA, Education

How Gender-Inclusion in Higher Education can transform Africa’s Future

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Meekness Lunga-Ayidu, Director Higher Education SSA, British Council, ‘on how African women can thrive within systems designed to advance opportunity and inclusion

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, 5 November 2025 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- Although access to higher education has improved, Sub Saharan Africa still has the lowest enrolment rate globally with only 9-10% compared to the global average of over 40%. While we have made some progress, we are still lagging. 60% of the young people who are not in education, employment or training are women. In as much as women’s participation in early stage and informal entrepreneurship across SSA now equals or even exceeds that of men, men are significantly more likely to own an established and growth-oriented business. Young women face significant additional barriers when attempting to access education or enter the labour market. Between 8 million to 11 million African youth will enter the labour market every year in the coming decades. Yet, only about 3 million new formal wage jobs are created yearly. Informal and self employment are becoming the norm. Action from governments and the private sector is required to close the gap between the increase in the working-age population and lagging job growth.

At the 16th Quadrennial General Conference of the Association of African Universities (AAU) in Rabat this year, the British Council presented groundbreaking research in collaboration with the African Network for Internationalisation of Education (ANIE) titled ‘Higher Education Gender Analysis: Access to Employability and Entrepreneurship Opportunities’. The research exposes systemic barriers across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. The findings are sobering. Women in higher education still face discrimination, harassment, and exclusion from leadership positions. Gender policies, where they exist, remain poorly understood and rarely enforced. Female graduates face higher unemployment rates than their male counterparts, while socio-cultural norms continue to prioritise boys’ education, contributing to early marriages and dropouts.

The insights highlight the systemic challenges to advancing higher-education gender-responsive reforms in the four main countries, and chart a roadmap for higher education institutions, policymakers, funders, and partners to bridge persistent inequalities and develop enabling systems that could unlock sustainable gender inclusion in higher education. For example, entrepreneurship holds enormous promise for empowerment, yet a lack of start-up capital and support structures remains. By introducing post-graduation accelerator programmes that incorporate entrepreneurship training and seed funding for women, a challenge like this can be transformed into an opportunity for inclusive growth. This demonstrates the urgent need for systemic reforms that will drive innovation, employability, and inclusive growth, and achieve true gender equity in higher education.

The two proven models include programmes such as Innovation for African Universities (IAU) and Gender Equality Partnership grants that form part of the British Council Going Global Partnerships programme. These programmes offer scalable, evidence-based models that other institutions and development partners can replicate or adapt. Through multi-country initiatives, the IAU co-designs and implements projects that equip graduates, especially women, with market-relevant entrepreneurial skills and mindsets. Its approach blends industry-academia collaboration, start-up mentorship, and enterprise-focused curricula. By embedding gender-responsive teaching, strengthening institutional support for female entrepreneurs, and improving access to funding and networks, the IAU shows how higher education can drive economic transformation and support female students.

Gender Equality Partnerships grants foster cross-border collaboration by funding joint research, institutional partnerships, and policy dialogue that centre gender equity as a core value. Together, these initiatives form a practical, evidence-based blueprint for gender parity, turning research into action and offering adaptable frameworks that universities across Africa can implement.

The ‘Higher education gender analysis’ was commissioned under the latter programme, reflecting a clear commitment to embedding gender equity across all higher education initiatives. The study applied the Accountability for Gender Equality in Education (AGEE) framework to ensure its outcomes were evidence-based and intersectional analysis, addressing not only gender but also how it interacts with class, ethnicity, and geography. AGEE is a UNESCO-developed model that helps governments and institutions identify, monitor, and address gender inequalities in education through data-driven analysis, policy reform, and institutional accountability mechanisms.

And the evidence is clear. Systemic change is required and must be driven by three priorities: gender reforms that include robust anti-harassment procedures, gender-responsive policies and gender-sensitive student support services, such as childcare and flexible learning, amongst others; policy reforms that prioritise gender equity in higher education with affirmative action in admissions and faculty recruitment, targeted scholarships, and funding for female students and entrepreneurs; and higher education transformation that invests in digital skills and infrastructure and integrates entrepreneurship education across disciplines.

Higher education is more than access, it is a powerful lever for innovation, job creation, and economic transformation opportunities across sub-Saharan Africa. When business community including universities, governments, funders, and industry partners collectively take action to address gender disparities in higher education, we create a multiplier effect where women gain entrepreneurial skills, secure funding, access mentorship, and break cycles of inequality that have persisted for generations. The economic and social returns extend far beyond individual success stories to shape resilient, innovative societies.

A call for partnership depends on Africa’s future to unleashing the full potential of its people and now this is the moment for universities, governments, and industry partners to act decisively and scale proven models like the Innovation for African Universities and Going Global Partnerships to embed gender equity in policy and practice, and to champion women as the architects of Africa’s next chapter of growth. We cannot afford to leave half our talent behind. The British Council invites education leaders, policymakers, and funders to collaborate on systemic change that transforms access into empowerment and ambition into opportunity. This is the moment to champion women as the architects of Africa’s next chapter of growth based on proven models and frameworks with compelling evidence. Join the British Council in making gender-responsive higher education a reality across the continent.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of ENAMEN Consulting

About the British Council

The British Council builds connections, understanding, and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education, and the English language.

We work in two ways – directly with individuals to transform their lives and with governments and partners to make a bigger difference for the longer term, creating benefits for millions of people all over the world.

We help young people gain the skills, confidence, and connections they are looking for to realise their potential. We support youth to learn English, get a high-quality education, and gain internationally recognized qualifications. Our work in arts and culture stimulates creative expression and nurtures creative enterprise.

We are on the ground in over 20 African countries and deliver impact working with local institutions and partners.

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Nteseng Ngwenya

nmn@enamenconsulting.com

The post How Gender-Inclusion in Higher Education can transform Africa’s Future appeared first on African Media Agency.

AMA, Environment

UN Climate Adaptation Expo in Zambia concludes with urgent call for more finance to save lives and economies; helps countries harness AI to build climate resilience

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© Photo Credit: UNFCCC/Zambia | Dr Youssef Nasser, Director of Adaptation at UNFCCC, delivering remarks 
at the NAP Expo 2025 opening

LUSAKA, Zambia, 18 August 2025 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/-The largest annual climate adaptation event has concluded in Lusaka, Zambia, with an urgent call for scaled up investment to save lives, lift living standards and boost economic growth.

NAP Expo 2025 focused on strengthening countries’ capacity to advance National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) ahead of COP30 in Brazil, and closing the financing gaps that threaten effective climate adaptation.

The Expo also launched updated adaptation guidelines, and helped countries to make use of new AI tools to build climate resilience, in many countries for the first time, among other key developments.

“Adaptation isn’t a bill we can skip. If we don’t fund it, the poorest pay in lost harvests, poorer health, and – at worst – with their lives,” said Youssef Nassef, Director of Adaptation at UN Climate Change.

“Around USD 300 billion is needed annually for climate adaptation by 2030. Governments will spend this amount and much more, whether they like it or not, in rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by climate disasters, and importing food due to ruined crops,” said Nassef.

“Much smarter and cheaper is investing in resilience up-front, because this not only saves lives and money, it delivers massive dividends across every sector and every community, transforming lives and economies for the better.”

Zambia’s Minister of Green Economy and Environment, Mike Elton Mposha, said: “We must transform NAPs into investable and bankable plans attractive for investment, including by the private sector. It is also imperative to enhance horizontal and vertical coordination to ensure effective participation of various stakeholders – including women, children and youth, persons with disabilities, local communities and the private sector – in the design and execution of NAPs.”

“Climate change is a matter of life and death for our people. The 2023-2024 drought reduced crop yields by about half, and similarly reduced electricity generation by more than half. This requires a multi-pronged approach across multiple sectors and scales, centred around the critical role of water,” added Douty Chibamba, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Green Economy and Environment of Zambia.

The Expo, attended by around 400 participants from 80 countries, launched updated technical guidelines, welcomed by least developed countries and others as a strong basis to help nations in designing and implementing their NAPs by 2025, in line with the latest science and the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA).

Adaptation plans are vital to ensuring that vulnerable communities have access to the funding and support they need to build resilience to worsening droughts, floods and other climate disasters.

Key outputs from the Expo include:

  • Over six technical sessions focused on promoting mobilization and access to financing for NAPs: (i) maximizing access to existing sources and modalities under the UNFCCC Financial Mechanism; (ii) exploring new sources and modalities of adaptation finance and how countries can mobilize or engage.
  • Five sessions aiming to accelerate the uptake and use of frontier and digital technologies in the NAP process, including big data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning.
  • For many participants, it was the first time using AI in supporting the formulation and implementation of NAPs, and the guided sessions provided an introduction to several powerful resources.
  • The AI session was so successful that participants requested an additional one, which was offered on the next day and focused on co-producing a sample open NAP to showcase concepts relevant to adaptation assessment, planning and implementation.
  • Various sessions strengthened inclusive stakeholder engagement in the NAP process by promoting the incorporation of diverse values and worldviews of Indigenous Peoples and the experiences of local communities, as well as private sector involvement, with a strong focus on vulnerable communities, gender-responsiveness and youth participation.
© Photo Credit: UNFCCC/Zambia | Fumukazi Zilanie Gondwe, Indigenous leader from Malawi’s Nyika Plateau, delivering remarks
at the opening.

Fumukazi Zilanie Kamgundanga Gondwe, traditional leader of the Phoka people, Rumphi, Malawi, said: “What we refer to as innovation is often rooted in long-standing Indigenous practices such as seed sovereignty, sacred forest protection, and cultural rituals for ecological balance.”

Ana Toni, CEO of the upcoming COP30 climate conference in Brazil, called on the global community to “transcend outdated mindsets whilst preserving shared values and innovating towards a new planetary renaissance, where humankind regenerates its relationship with itself and with the nature it belongs to.”

“COP30 will serve as a turning point for adaptation, and NAPs must lead the way, building capacity and securing funding to strengthen our efforts. In Belém, adaptation must be elevated to the same level of importance as mitigation on the global agenda, especially as the impacts of climate change have already infiltrated our homes. Together, we have the power to implement meaningful change and safeguard our communities for a more resilient and sustainable future,” Toni added.

Attended by government officials, technical experts, Indigenous leaders, private sector representatives, and development partners, the Expo from 11-15 August was marked by a focus on implementation – how to help countries meet the 2025 NAP submission target.

Countries also showcased practical solutions to the Global Goal on Adaptation targets:

  • Water security: nature-based solutions for urban rainwater harvesting, climate-smart agricultural practices, and restoration of rivers and streams.
  • Food security: climate-smart agriculture techniques improving soil health and yields without expanding land use.
  • Secure Livelihoods: diversified income and strengthened resilience through sustainable resource management.
  • Resilient infrastructure: coastal protection projects rooted in nature-based solutions.

Youssef Nassef expressed deep gratitude to the Government and people of Zambia for their gracious hospitality in hosting this important global event, noting how the Zambian spirit of solidarity, of hope, of collectivism and harmony helped underpin a successful Expo.

As the Expo closed, participants pointed to next month’s Climate Week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (1-6 September) convened by UN Climate Change, as another key moment to advance adaptation and resilience, including financing needs, along with other key issues.

By bringing together negotiators with implementers in government and the real economy, along with key financiers including development banks, Climate Week will help lay a foundation for progress on finance, adaptation, mitigation and a Just Transition, in Belém and beyond.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of UNFCCC 

About the NAP Expo 

The NAP Expo is an annual outreach event organized by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) under the UNFCCC. It serves as a platform for exchanging experiences, fostering partnerships and mobilizing support to advance the formulation and implementation of NAPs in developing countries. 

About the UNFCCC 

With 198 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. The Paris Agreement aims to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level which will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, and to protect all people from worsening climate impacts now and in the future. Through multilateral cooperation under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, and national efforts, projected temperature increase has been reduced from up to 5 degrees Celsius, to around 3 degrees Celsius now, if pledges are implemented. Efforts continue to lower projected temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as all countries in the UNFCCC have agreed, as well as to build more climate-resilient economies and societies, and to spread the vast benefits of climate action across all nations and peoples. 

The ultimate objective of all agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.

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The post UN Climate Adaptation Expo in Zambia concludes with urgent call for more finance to save lives and economies; helps countries harness AI to build climate resilience appeared first on African Media Agency.

Health

Disability is not limited to the body, it is also about mindsets

Maravi Post Reporter

Shobha Shukla – CNS

Very often it is our disabling attitudes that make life difficult for people with disabilities, rather than their own physical impairments. More than the disability itself, it is its psychological effects that take a bigger toll on the person, says wheelchair bound Tanzila Khan, a disability rights activist who founded GirlyThings.pk.

Tanzila shared her anguish in lead up to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, while delivering the plenary talk at the 11th virtual session of the ongoing 10th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR10).

“Persons with disabilities struggle a lot with their identity. We do not find ourselves fit in society. All
the buildings are made accessible only to the able-bodied. The same applies to policies and legislation. Sometimes attitudes can disable an entire nation or community that has a perfectly able-body with no impairments”, she said.

There are 690 million persons with disabilities in the Asia Pacific region. While many countries of the region have focused on improving access of persons with disabilities to employment and education, limited attention is given to their sexual and reproductive health needs. Sexual and reproductive health rights of women still remain a taboo subject and the challenge becomes even bigger in the context of women with physical disabilities. Any talks around this important issue are difficult to digest for many people, including policy makers and leaders. Even healthcare providers very often turn a blind eye to it.

The insensitive attitude of service providers is a major hindrance for persons with disabilities in accessing sexual and reproductive health services. In Nepal, young people, especially women, with disabilities face several problems on this front, shared Shibu Shrestha, who is a senior programme manager at Visible Impact. As it is, the unmet need for family planning in Nepal is high for young women. On top of this, it is assumed that those with disability are either asexual or not sexually active and therefore do not need sexual and reproductive health services like family planning.

According to one study, persons with disabilities in Nepal are twice as likely to be on the receiving end of inadequately skilled healthcare providers at improper facilities. They are three times more likely to be denied healthcare and four times more likely to be treated badly by healthcare systems.

In another recent study conducted on young persons with disabilities in 3 cities of Nepal (Kathmandu, Sunsari and Nepalganj) participants shared that the attitude of the health service providers was judgmental and not friendly when young people sought family planning services, to the extent that the service providers often remarked- “Even these people need these devices?”

The study participants were hesitant to share about their behaviour and perceptions regarding family planning. All of them said that such family planning issues were still not discussed in the open. No wonder they had limited knowledge of family planning methods, with the male participants stating that the main family planning method among the unmarried was the emergency contraceptive pill.

While all agreed that decisions on the usage of family planning methods should be made through consensus among the couples, the female participants highlighted that men are usually the sole decision makers for the type of the family planning method to be used after marriage.

“When there is no discussion, there is no question of decision. But, they (males) offer to buy us the ‘morning-after’ pills the next day, and we have to agree as we do not have other alternatives. We do not have the confidence to buy contraceptives, so we willingly allow unprotected sex”, said a female participant.

Another woman with disabilities in Kathmandu confided that, “Once when I went to buy vaginal tablets, the pharmacist looked at me in such a way as if I have committed a murder. Since then I have never gone to buy any contraceptive device on my own.”

Myths associated with contraceptive use also exist. Many persons with disabilities think that condoms and intra-uterine devices do not give sexual satisfaction, or that vasectomy makes a man sexually weak.

If this is the attitude and level of understanding in the big cities, one can imagine the situation in small towns and rural areas.

Shibu wants all information and services for persons with disabilities to be equipped with accessibility standards – like provision of ramps, larger bathrooms with grab bars, lowered examination tables, easy to read versions, sign language interpreters, tactile communication provision, audio formats and braille script, including pictorial form for persons with intellectual disabilities and autism disorder.

Srei Chanda, who is a research scholar at the International Institute for Population Sciences, did a study in two metropolitan cities of India which explored the plight of people with acquired locomotor disability due to lower limb amputation (as a result of accidents or some underlying health condition). According to Srei, amputees not only have to battle physical, psychological, social and economic changes, but their sexual and reproductive health needs also remain largely unaddressed.

One person who had a below-the-knee amputation said: “One cannot share every thought with one’s mother. You also need support of friends to share certain issues. Being disabled, it is difficult to share the thought of sexual need and desire even with my friends.”

Another young female, who had undergone bilateral below-the-knee amputation, shared that her husband left her when she became pregnant. When she went to the hospital for her delivery the healthcare personnel said, “You don’t have legs, we cannot take the risk of delivering your baby.”

“Although I did not have much trouble in the whole process of delivering the baby, the words like ‘no’ or ‘limbless’ were the only trouble I felt indirectly from every other person”, she said.

Phyu Nwe Win, Magazine Editor Colorful Girls Myanmar, says that in her country, persons with disabilities especially young women and girls, have high unmet sexual and reproductive health needs. This is mainly due to false perception that they lack sexual desire and therefore are unlikely to have such needs. This inhibits them from even talking about sexual and reproductive health related issues. They are stigmatised and excluded from comprehensive sexuality education programmes due to lack of perceived need. Even when included in educational activities, they face barriers as materials specific to their needs are unavailable. Myths and misinformation around sexual and reproductive health are rampant and result in adverse outcomes for women with disabilities – like forced marriages, domestic and sexual violence, and lack of power to negotiate for safe sex that leads to unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, said Phyu.

These are some of the heart wrenching ground realities faced by persons with disabilities. But there are some sparks of hope too. As shared by An Nguyen, Vietnam is one such country that offers a good practice example. An Nguyen is currently doing her PhD from Monash University in Australia and has a physical disability due to polio.

Vietnam is fairly progressive in terms of sexual and reproductive health services. Most people can easily access contraception and reproductive health is discussed openly. Government policies actively promote reproductive rights. The recently implemented Disability Law has brought about a number of positive changes for persons with disabilities.

An’s study on “Accessing Reproductive Health Care Services For Women With Physical Disabilities In Ho Chi Minh City” found that most women with disabilities have had a positive experience when accessing healthcare services. Participants reported that healthcare providers are sensitive and knowledgeable about their needs and physical infrastructures have improved. Infrastructure improvements included provision of ramps, lifts, and wheelchairs at health clinics. Government healthcare cards for people with disabilities entitled them to reduced fees or even free services, depending on the extent of their disability. All this has helped the persons with disabilities to take good care of their health.

However, some minor irritants still remain – like in some hospitals toilets are inaccessible for wheelchair users; parking is far away from the main entry gate and parking of three-wheel motorbikes is not allowed.

“Access of women with disabilities to reproductive healthcare could be further improved by improving the capacity and knowledge of local governments to better operationalise the laws. Also, there is scope for further improvement in policies. Even though the law on disability recognizes the rights of persons with disabilities, the national guidelines on reproductive healthcare services currently do not have specific guidelines for them”, says An.

In Pakistan, Tanzila’s drama production company, Creative Alley, is using innovative ways to highlight the issues of persons with disabilities at policy level and also to sensitise the general public. Her “Theatre of the Taboo” is a training module that uses theatre as a problem-solving technique on issues related to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

“Our theatre makes the audience become the actors in the play. We let them address their own biases and this has proved to be an enjoyable technique. We also try to bring all communities together and not just the persons with disabilities, as this is likely to alienate them”, says Tanzila.

She has also founded “GirlyThings”, a mobile App that provides home delivery (to women and girls with and without disabilities) of products related to women’s health and menstrual hygiene, including sanitary pads. It empowers women to take care of their menstrual health and hygiene by themselves by providing instant access to feminine healthcare-related information and products, which women might otherwise be unable to buy directly from the shop, either because of their physical disability and/ or they might be hesitant to buy from the shelf because of the inherent taboos and stereotypes around such products.

Tanzila insists that the best way to empower persons with disabilities is by mainstreaming them and treating them as our equal and not as beneficiaries of our charity. We all need to adopt the lens of inclusivity and make sure that we do not have a disabling attitude towards anybody, regardless of the impairment of their body, or their background, or any other identity that they have.

Shobha Shukla – CNS (Citizen News Service)\

(Shobha Shukla is the award-winning founding Managing Editor of CNS (Citizen News Service) and is a feminist, health and development justice advocate. She is a former senior Physics faculty of Loreto Convent College and current Coordinator of Asia Pacific Media Network to end TB & tobacco and prevent NCDs (APCAT Media). Follow her on Twitter @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)

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