UNESCO Prize Honors Morocco and Peru Projects for Girls Education

The 2026 UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education has been awarded to two projects from Morocco and Peru, recognizing efforts to improve educational outcomes for adolescent girls in rural and underserved areas. The awards, which include $50,000 for each recipient, were presented on October 9 in Paris, according to reports from Xinhua.

Morocco and Peru projects receive recognition

The Moroccan initiative, Project Soar, received the prize for its “Project Soar in a Suitcase” program. Xinhua reported that the project provides support to disadvantaged adolescent girls, helping them remain in school and plan for their futures. Since its inception in 2017, the program has reached more than 8,000 girls across five countries.

In Peru, the organization CARE Peru was honored for its “Girls with Opportunities” project. This initiative targets indigenous and rural adolescent girls to help them complete their secondary education and improve their access to future employment. Since 2016, the program has supported more than 37,000 girls aged 14 to 19, according to Xinhua.

UNESCO and China collaboration on education

The prize is funded by the government of the People’s Republic of China, a partnership that has been in place since 2015, UNESCO noted on its official website. During the ceremony, UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany thanked China for its ongoing support of the organization’s educational goals. Ren Youqun, China’s Vice Minister of Education, attended the event and emphasized that education serves to open doors and assist individuals in reaching their full potential.

El-Enany stated that the winning projects demonstrate how girls can shape their own futures when provided with necessary support and confidence. He added that these initiatives contribute to gender equality through concrete actions. The selection process for the laureates involves an independent international jury of five experts, who provide recommendations to the UNESCO Director-General, according to UNESCO documentation.

Global gaps in female education

The ceremony took place shortly before the October 11 International Day of the Girl. Chen Qun, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, highlighted the persistent scale of the issue during the event. He stated that 133 million girls worldwide remain out of school, and women account for nearly two-thirds of adults lacking basic literacy skills, Xinhua reported.

Chen argued for the use of data-driven approaches to identify where inequalities persist and to convert successful practices into long-term change. UNESCO also hosted a roundtable discussion on the same day, focusing on the gender component of its 2026 Global Education Monitoring Report. While the awards provide funding to expand these specific programs, the broader question remains how international stakeholders will address the structural barriers preventing the remaining millions of girls from accessing basic education.