The guide aims to help policymakers and practitioners in Ministries of Education and their partners address the gender dimensions of COVID-related school closures. It provides targeted recommendations to ensure continuity of learning while schools are closed, and to establish comprehensive, timely and evidence-based plans for reopening schools in a way that is safe, gender-responsive and child-friendly, and meets the needs of the most marginalised girls. It emphasises an approach to ‘build back equal’ through gender-responsive measures that transform education systems, prioritise resilience, and address the key bottlenecks and barriers to girls’ education.