Geeta Desai is the Immediate Past President of Graduate Women International, a worldwide non-governmental organisation with the mission to promote education beyond primary school level for all women and girls.
Graduate Women International has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is a member of the UN’s NGO Committee on the Status of Women.
In this episode, Geeta shares why educating girls and women affects entire communities, we discuss how men might contribute to gender equality, and she outlines the persistent hurdles that mean many women around the world will never see the inside of a classroom.
I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss these subjects with Geeta during her visit to Oxford in 2019. If you are interested in gender equality, the work of NGOs, and lifelong learning, I think you will enjoy this conversation.
Resources and links mentioned in this episode
- Website of Graduate Women International
- Graduate Women International on Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
- Read more on the UN’s perspective on Covid-19 here.
In preparation for the podcast launch during the 2020 Covid-19 crisis, Geeta shared with me the following message:
“There is much that has to be understood about the social impact of Covid-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals – the world’s largest human development program with goals for 2030. The Sustainable Development Goals include a gendered perspective in the accomplishment of goals with an emphasis on the education of women and girls, and COVID 19 has impacted all of that.
If ever there was a time for women’s leadership, it is during this pandemic and in its aftermath.”
Angelika Love 