Violence against girls is a worldwide problem which not only infringes upon girls’ rights, it also impacts heavily upon their education. Although it is a widespread issue, all too often it goes unreported. Various reasons account for such silence; the acts of violence are often hidden, sometimes taken for granted; and at other times violence is unreported for fear of repercussion or rejection or because of shame. Often girls feel powerless to speak up and sometimes risk jeopardizing their education if they do. This violence takes place in, around and on the way to school and takes many pernicious forms. Violence in this context is linked to broader structures of power and inequality within families, communities and policies. As a result, it proves a difficult issue to address. Neither the Education for All goals nor the Millennium Development Goals have given space to the issue of violence against girls despite the impact it has on girls’ education and its centrality to achieving MDG goal 3 relating to gender equality. However, E4conference is breaking the silence and giving this subject deserved attention. We invite you to join the discussion.
International policies and commitments have put great emphasis on achieving gender parity in schools, that is, getting the same number of girls and boys in school. However, gender parity represents only the first step. It is limited in its aspiration as it does not take account of girls’ experiences of schooling once they gain access to school. The focus has been quantity, not quality. But what is meant by ‘quality’ education? And how is it related to gender equality? Firstly, we must acknowledge the importance of social justice and then examine educational practices in terms of the values that they are built upon. This serves as a starting point in identifying the dimensions of a quality gender equitable education. There are three areas that are fundamental to meeting girls and women’s needs for and expectations of a quality education: an enabling environment, relevant and meaningful education and democratic processes. What are your experiences and thoughts of achieving quality education that is gender equitable? Get involved in E4conf’s e-conference and share your ideas!
John Chambers, Chairman and CEO of Cisco (Image © Cisco)
The fifth segment of the UNGEI Leaders for Education Series features John T. Chambers, Chairman and CEO of Cisco. As UNGEI’s newest Global Advisory Committee member, here he talks to us about what education means to him and the role of women in fuelling economic growth, not just at Cisco, but in the developing world.
John has been widely recognized for his and Cisco’s philanthropic leadership, recently receiving the first-ever Clinton Global Citizen Award from former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and the U.S. State Department’s top corporate social responsibility award from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He has also been awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship, and the prestigious Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Award, an award given by CEOs to their CEO peers.
Chambers takes an active role in corporate social responsibility initiatives worldwide, which most recently includes forming a public-private partnership to help rebuild healthcare and education models in the Sichuan, China region impacted by the May 2008 earthquake. Chambers also co-sponsored the Jordan Education Initiative, which Cisco has worked on in partnership with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and the World Economic Forum. Additionally, in late 2006, Chambers co-led a delegation of U.S. business leaders, in partnership with the U.S. State Department, to form the Partnership for Lebanon, helping provide critically needed resources for ongoing reconstruction in Lebanon. Chambers has also spearheaded several other education initiatives, including the 21st Century Schools initiative, to improve education and opportunity for children in the Gulf Coast Region affected by Hurricane Katrina. Read John Chambers’ thoughts on the role of women within Cisco, the importance of the Internet and the largest e-learning programme in the world.
The interview is available in full UNGEI
Ana Ivanovic is a Serbian female athlete, former World No.1-ranked tennis player, much sought-after photo model and global sports star. In September 2007, Ana Ivanovic became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia and an advocate for child rights, particularly in the areas of education and child protection. Ana has a particular concern about the prevalence of violence within schools and has donated funds to the ‘schools without violence programme ’ in her home country of Serbia. In the interview Ana talks about her childhood, her inspiration and how she came to be such a successful athlete and UNICEF ambassador. Read the interview in full UNGEI.
The third edition of UNGEI’s Leaders for Education series is now available and features Navanethem Pillay, The United Nation’s High Commissioner for Human Rights .
As a member of a non-white minority in apartheid South Africa, and as a front- line, grassroots lawyer who acted as a defense attorney for many anti-apartheid campaigners and trades unionists, Ms. Pillay has direct personal experience of many of the issues that a High Commissioner for Human Rights covers under her mandate. She has also been very active in supporting women’s rights, and was one of the co-founders of the international NGO Equality Now, which campaigns for women’s rights. Ms. Pillay does not limit herself to advocating for women’s rights, and has also been involved with a number of other organizations working on issues relating to children, detainees, victims of torture, and of domestic violence as well as a range of other economic, social and cultural rights. As part of UNGEI’s Leaders for Education series, Ms. Pillay talks about how education is not only a right in itself, but is also an instrument for achieving many other rights and has a crucial role to play in promoting gender equality.
Read the interview in full at UNGEI’s website.
By Victoria Barrès
I would like to share a large-scale indirect ’gender promotion’ strategy for very poor girls in urban India implemented in the public primary education system in Chennai, India. Several years ago significant changes were introduced in the education system, including core Montessori principles that include a self-paced educational approach within a non-violent physical and psychological environment. Children can now miss several days (or even weeks) at a time for family reasons, without being permanently sanctioned by poor exams, teacher aggravation, or the emergence of a ‘failure’ syndrome that discourages children’s and parents’ interest in schooling. Both girls and boys benefit more from this kind of approach. However, girls’ drop out rate is often higher than boys, particularly after the first few years if they actually have access to schooling. Hence, this type of ‘inclusive education’ approach could potentially make a substantive contribution to reducing female ‘drop out’ in primary education elsewhere as well. It also creates a pro-education environment where very poor parents see that their children are happy and become favourable to the idea that their girls, as well as their boys, can actually complete primary education (age 14+) and even beyond. In Chennai, the drop-out rate has been reduced apparently from 47% to 1%, and the approach is now being implemented throughout the state of Tamil Nadu, with over seven million children in the public primary school system. Children’s academic results have also improved 30-40% on average.
Strong, consistent leadership has been an essential ingredient in achieving these results. Quality of education, including effective in-service teacher training and proper salaries paid on a regular basis, among others, are all inter-connected issues that significantly affect poor families – and girl children in particular. Hence, they affect ‘gender promotion’. The Chennai, India primary education system teaches both in English and Tamil and hence shows that public school education can provide quality bi-lingual education. When children can ‘move around’ quietly, work in small groups and have some ‘choice’, they are capable of great learning, even beyond adults’ expectations, because they have some control over their lives. Local languages can be used as well as languages that enable communication on national and international levels.
The issue of use of mother tongue in early education is also linked to gender-equality, as well as poverty. Some contributors have mentioned the importance of mother tongue, however these inter-connected aspects of the gender-equality issues haven’t been discussed sufficiently, particularly in terms of feasible, effective strategies to improve literacy for girls and women. It also seems important to have an overall international perspective and framework that can facilitate feasible ways of sharing approaches, to tease out ‘lessons learned’ of many programs and consider ways of implementing large-scale strategies with appropriate adaptations, in other countries and cultures. Pro-active gender strategies need to be feasible and multi-pronged, which means that advocacy must also help highlight the interconnections of issues related to promotion of girls and women, particularly beginning in early education, whether formal, non-formal or informal. Leadership training begins from a very young age (3-6 years) by learning ‘agency’, problem-solving and that each child, as well as each adult, is a ‘person’ with rights and responsibilities.
Media and stereotyping also contribute to promoting forms of physical and moral violence against certain groups, women and girls in particular. Many females still think violence is their ‘destiny’, others don’t know how to overcome violence, particularly within their families and communities, whence the recent massive UN campaign to Unite against Violence against Women and Girls. Women’s attitudes towards violence within families also affects both girls and boys during their developmental years, influencing self-image and learning. In certain media, the problem is so widespread, promoting a ‘culture of violence’, that the effort to combat violence calls for building larger-scale partnerships with media professionals, particularly those who have committed their organizations to creating a ‘culture of peace and non-violence’, based on a children’s rights and girls’ and women’s rights approach. Some NGOs of professional journalists, like SIGNIS, have chosen this theme as their core topic for their upcoming program of action. As media presents models of behaviour to the general public, it’s imperative to work more effectively with media professionals at all levels: local, national, regional and international. UNESCO could play a much greater role in this regard by bringing together media professionals, researchers, NGOs and others working on advocacy and implementation of strategies to promote girls and women’s literacy and education as a crucial aspect for their society’s development in various ways, including on-line discussions such as the one currently in progress.
Victoria Barrès, Representative Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) to UNESCO (www.montessori-ami.org); Vice-President, International Coalition for the International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace for the Children of the World (www.nvpdecade.org).
Following the inspirational interview with Zainab Salbi, the second edition of UNGEI’s Leaders for Education Series features Ela Bhatt. Ela Bhatt, the founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), is widely recognized as one of the world’s most remarkable pioneers and entrepreneurial forces in grassroots development. Known as the “gentle revolutionary,” and a follower of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, she has dedicated her life to improving the lives of India’s poorest and most
oppressed citizens. According to Ela Bhatt’s education is one pole of the ladder enabling women to climb out of poverty and education leads to work which constitutes the other pole of the ladder. Her work has revolutionized the lives of women who work in the informal sector and she has inspired thousands. Read the interview in full: UNGEI
‘Because I am a Girl: The State of the World’s Girls 2009’ is the third in a series of annual reports published by Plan examining the rights of girls throughout their childhood, adolescence and as young women.
Focusing on girls in the global economy, the report warns that failing to send girls to school is costing the world’s poorest countries billions of pounds each year. No education means girls are confined to dangerous, unskilled work – neglecting their earning potential and slowing a country’s recovery from the current financial crisis.
The global economic downturn also means girls in the developing world are the first to lose their jobs, may end up in the sex trade and are more likely to die young. The report is available for download: PLAN
Zainab Salbi, co-founder and CEO of Women for Women International
In the build up to the global conference in Dakar, Senegal, from 17 to 20 May 2010: “Engendering Empowerment: Education and Equality” (E4 for short), UNGEI will be rolling out the Leaders for Education Series, an advocacy piece that aims to raise the profile of girls’ education and gender equality, as well as highlighting the upcoming conference. The series will feature 10 global leaders from various sectors, including government, business and entertainment, who have contributed to girls’ education and gender equality, or whose personal stories are sources of inspiration to promote quality education for all. The voices featured in the interview series will be an important means of raising awareness worldwide about the power of education to transform the lives of children, their communities, and the world at large. The first interview is with Zainab Salbi, co-founder and CEO of Women for Women International. Women for Women is a grassroots international humanitarian and development organization helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives, families and communities. A survivor of war herself, Ms. Salbi grew up in Iraq, and was sent to America for an arranged but ultimately abusive marriage, in an attempt to save her from Saddam Hussein’s grasp. Stranded in America by the Gulf War, she escaped the marriage and started her life over. She co-founded the organization in 1993, at the age of 23, as a response to the trauma endured by women survivors of the Balkan wars. Her work has been featured in major media outlets including The Oprah Winfrey Show and the Washington Post. In 1995, President Clinton honoured Salbi at the White House for her humanitarian work in Bosnia.
Read the interview in full on the UNGEI site.
In the Oxfam publication, Beyond Access: Transforming Policy and Practice for Gender Equality in Education (Oxfam, 2005), Janet Raynor gives an insightful account of traditional attitudes towards girls’ education in Bangladesh. Janet Raynor describes how a common view held by families is that to invest in girls’ education is like ‘watering a neighbour’s tree’. Implicit within such an expression is that girls’ education is not a worthwhile investment as the parental family will not reap the benefits of her education when she marries into another family. It is therefore considered a waste. This is a view held by many communities throughout the world and is not isolated to the case of Bangladesh. What such attitudes fail to recognise is the great benefits that girls’ education can have for society at large, which will indirectly affect the girl’s family. Women’s and girls’ education is associated with higher earnings, lower child mortality, improved child health, better informed nutritional, health and sanitation practices and is also correlated with lower levels of child marriage. As Hillary Clinton recently said ‘Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime? If you teach a woman to fish, the impact is even greater. It takes a woman to teach a village.’ This contradicts any such claim that investing in girls’ education is a ‘waste’. The far-reaching impact that girls’ education can have on her family and society are clear. However, we must not forget that education is above all a fundamental right of every child, boy and girl, and has significant benefits for the girl as an individual, giving her self worth and allowing her to flourish as a valued human being.
