Malala Fund renews partnership with AREAi to advance gender-responsive education budgeting in Oyo

By Editor

The Aid for Rural Education Access Initiative (AREAi) has announce the renewal of its partnership with the Malala Fund for a new three-year phase focused on strengthening gender-responsive education budgeting(GREB) in Oyo State, Nigeria.

This renewed collaboration builds on the successes and lessons learned from the previous three-year intervention activities, which resulted in measurable gains and outcomes, ensuring that over 10,000 girls across the three senatorial districts of the state have access to quality educational opportunities.

Over the next three years, AREAi’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Gideon Olanrewaju, would lead the AREAi team to work in close collaboration with government partners, civil society, school leaders, and community advocates to strengthen systems-level accountability regarding how education is planned, funded, and monitored, particularly in Oyo State.

“We aim to expand the reach and impact of gender-responsive education budgeting (GREB) to ensure that education planning, budgeting, and spending intentionally address the unique needs and lived realities of girls in underserved communities through inclusive, data-driven, and participatory approaches,” Olanrewaju said.

During the previous three-year phase of the partnership, AREAi’s Getting Girls’ Equal Program (GGE), in collaboration with the Malala Fund, achieved transformative results at both the grassroots and systems levels.

The program created safer, more inclusive learning environments and strengthened structures for gender-responsive education through targeted interventions, stakeholder consultative engagements and community-driven action.

GGE supported over 10,000 schoolgirls across 30 schools in implementing gender-responsive teaching and school practices, creating classrooms where girls are seen, heard, and supported.

This has led to improved participation and engagement among girls, fostering an environment where they can excel academically and socially. Through the use of DigiLearns, thousands of school girls accessed remote learning materials that improved their academic performance, particularly contributing to an increased percentage of girls who successfully transitioned into higher education.

In addition, and as a way to ensure educators can continue to lead this transformation after the intervention ends, the GGE program also trained teachers and school administrators in Gender-Responsive Pedagogy (GRP), equipping them to challenge bias, promote equitable learning, and practice gender-transformative leadership.

At the policy level, the GGE program leveraged the use of scientific evidence from grassroots interventions to inform ongoing efforts to embed gender-responsive practices into local education systems.

Through a published article and a series of policy briefs that were operationalised through appropriate quarters, the intervention also contributed to the understanding of gender-responsive teaching approaches, promotion of school-level gender policies, and accountability for inclusive learning outcomes within school systems.

Therefore, with this next phase of the three-year partnership between AREAi and the Malala Fund, the intervention will focus on expanding evidence generation, strengthening community-led gender-responsive budgeting processes, and amplifying the use of technology to include, uphold and integrate the voices and actions of girls and young women across Oyo State into the education budget design, allocation, expenditure and accountability processes.

He said, “We hope with firm belief that these programmatic efforts will solidify existing structures necessary to promote and enable equitable education funding in Oyo state, one that is built on an effective collaboration between state actors, civil society stakeholders, and school communities.”

Speaking on the partnership renewal, Ifeoluwa Adewole, Programs Manager for the Getting Girls Equal (GGE) program, AREAi said that this partnership reflects a sustained commitment to dismantling the systemic barriers that continue to limit girls’ access to learning opportunities.

He said, “We are committed to enhancing systems to prioritise inclusion, transparency, and accountability for every girl in Oyo State.”

At the heart of this renewed partnership is the joint commitment to increase and improve funding for girls’ education through gender-responsive education plans and budgets, and to enhance transparency and accountability in the spending of education funds.