Cover(final) - United Nations Girls' Education Initiative

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This Report Card for South Asia is a call to rights-based action for
governments and stakeholders. It uses a gender lens to score and
grade countries across South Asia on the basis of country abilities to
nurture gender equality in education.
The idea of such a report card originated in Kathmandu during a 2008
regional meeting of the South Asia partnership of the United Nations
Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI). Its current form, however, reflects a
series of discussions, debates and negotiations among members of
ASPBAE, and the UNGEI partnership.
There are a number of individuals and groups we need to thank for their
contributions to this report.
Our deepest thanks are due to Swati Narayan, the writer and lead
researcher of this report. Swati is an independent development analyst
who advises government and civil society organizations on policies for
the social protection of the basic rights to food and education. Rigorous
and relentless in her research, solid and refreshing in her analysis – this
report would not have been possible without her highly competent hand.
This report has also been enriched by the conceptual contribution and
editorial support of Dr. Nitya Rao of the University of East Anglia (UK)
and ASPBAE’s representative on the Global Advisory Committee (GAC)
of the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI). Her wide
experience of work on gender, livelihoods, education and social policy
as a social activist and academic strongly informed the analytical
framework of this report.