This report synthesises evidence on the trends in the gender gap in primary and secondary school, particularly for the emerging regions: Afar, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambela, and Somali in 2000 to 2019. This report was completed in two parts, results from statistical research and extraction from four reports provided by the requester. Four reports were provided to review for this helpdesk with data extraction in section 8. A report on advancing women’s equality in Africa focussed on improving economic opportunities and noted that parity in work and society must come together. Ethiopia was deemed to be performing particularly badly on parity in ‘legal protection and political voice’. However, Ethiopia has an above average score on political representation. Research looking at the role of politics in relation to girls’ education gives important insight. Yorke, Rose, and Pankhurst (2019) explore this with discussion on why positive progress in official policy is not necessarily leading to changes on the ground. They recommend a focus on the meso-level, the space between policy and implementation.