The ‘Experts Workshop on Gender Issues in Education in the Arab Region’ was organized by UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States - Beirut on 5-6 November 2009 in collaboration with the Section for the Promotion of Rights and Values in Education, UNESCO Paris, within the framework of the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1979). This was done in an effort to draw attention to and discuss the legal and policy provisions for the promotion of gender equality in education and to make recommendations for Member States within the framework of UNESCO’s role for promoting normative action and standard setting. The workshop brought together legal, education and human rights experts, representatives from UN agencies and NGOs who discussed issues relating to gender and the right to education, gender-based discrimination in education and equality of educational opportunities in the Arab States. Discussions focused on how to protect and promote girls’ right to education as a fundamental human right and were based on the right to education and its legal framework, including: the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Arab Charter on Human Rights.
