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Expiration Date for Gender Inequality

Nearly 20 years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, U.N. Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is ready to tackle the remaining gender discrimination issues ahead.

Adopted in 1995 by 189 Member States at the Fourth World Women’s Conference in China, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action signified a major turning point for global support of women’s rights and empowerment. While the Beijing Conference declaration is still considered the “most effective and comprehensive policy framework for achieving gender equality,” its 20th anniversary celebration campaign, known as “Beijing 20+,” has been largely focused on the many issues that have seen little improvement.

However, the focus of “Beijing 20+,” the campaign created by U.N. Women, did not detract from mood of the event.

“The tone of the event, however, was not one of defiance, but of action and unbridled optimism,” wrote Pieter Colparet, journalist for the Daily Beast. ““Let’s get to work!” was the message that echoed through each and every speech and performance.”

During the event, Mlambo-Ngcucka boldly gave gender inequality an expiration date of 2030.

“For the first time gender inequality will have an expiration date! This is going to be a big part of our work plan,” said Mlambo-Ngcucka. “We want to emphasize that the Beijing agenda is not a women’s agenda. It is an agenda for humanity.”

The Beijing Conference declaration laid out 12 main areas of concern in 1995, many of which, Mlambo-Ngucka argued, are still issues today. The concerns Mlambo-Ngucka outlined, included:

  • Reducing the effects of armed conflict on women and girls as well as increasing women’s participation in peace and security;
  • Increasing women’s leadership and decision-making;
  • Removing gender stereotypes and increasing women’s role in the media;
  • Eliminating all forms of discrimination against the girl children;
  • And protecting the human rights of all women and girls.

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks at the event echoed the concerns of Mlambo-Ngucka, pointing out how only 21.8 percent of parliamentarians worldwide are women. While many of the women spoke on moving gender equality to a top priority on the global agenda, the United Nations as a whole recently committed itself to gender equality in an ambitious way.

While the U.N. has been slow to fill peacekeeping positions with female employees, the organization has now to hire women for at least 20 percent of the police officer positions by the end of this year.

According to the U.N., women only made up three percent of military personal and 10 percent of police personnel in U.N. Peacekeeping missions in 2012. However, it should be noted that the deployment of women in uniformed employment positions is decided by the Member States themselves.

“Nearly 20 years on from the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, we must recognize the significant progress that was made possible thanks to the commitment of international organizations, States and civil society,” Chilean President Michelle Bachelet wrote, in an U.N. Women article on the Beijing 20+ campaign. “Only once we make this dream a reality will we have fully accomplished the Platform for Action’s mission.”

– Blythe Riggan

Sources: Devex, SmartBrief, UN Women 1, UN Women 2, U.N., Huffington Post
Photo: CNN

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Gender-based Inequality in Nepal

Gender Based Inequality in Nepal
As more Nepalese men leave their homeland in search of employment, the women—especially in rural areas—have begun to take a larger role in society. Even with these new-found responsibilities, the women of Nepal remain trapped in the cycle of poverty and gender-based inequality that has plagued the country for generations. In Nepal, a woman can run a farm yet have no access to the profits the land yields.

Nepal’s economy relies largely on foreign aid, and despite the tremendous progress since the 1990s, 40 percent of the population continues to live below the poverty line. That number declined by 11 percent overall since the mid-90’s, but this still leaves one third of all Nepalese children living under such conditions.

Unemployment leads thousands of Nepalese to migrate to neighboring India in search of a way to provide for their families. Unfortunately, the open border allowing this migration also renders human trafficking, for both sexual and hard-labor purposes, much easier. The trafficking of an estimated 200,000 Nepalese women has filled brothels across India. Someone known to the family often tricks the victims with the promise of a well-paying job. In other cases, women are simply kidnapped and smuggled across the Nepalese border into India. Low-paid border police are easily bribed—an issue activist groups currently target with practical training for the police regarding how to spot a victim of trafficking.

Abuse also follows women who migrate willingly to countries like Lebanon. Under the Kafala system, one employer receives the work permits, meaning women who dare leave an abusive employer risk deportation. Because legal employment pays little, if any, wages, many Nepalese migrants turn to the illegal informal sector. The Nepalese government has reacted with heavy restrictions on women’s travel and migration to the country.

Evidence suggests that the expansion of women’s rights can relieve a country from poverty sooner. Yet, historically, gender inequality has been ingrained in Nepalese society. Chhaupadi, the practice of forcing a women in menstruation or having recently given birth to live apart from the family until the bleeding ends, is still practiced throughout the western and central regions of Nepal. Within the Nepalese family unit, women cannot live individually, which incapacitates victims of domestic abuse who might otherwise leave. Few women report abuse or trafficking to police.

The future of the Nepalese women requires addressing the two main factors of her suffering: economic and gender-based inequality. Microloans offered to rural women proves to be one method to fight the temptation of falsely-alluring jobs abroad. Survivors of trafficking have also received such loans. In 2007, the Nepalese government enacted the Human Trafficking and Transportation Act, but without proper implementation, the Act fails to serve its purpose. The issue demands further international attention, and increased financial independence for women in Nepal.

– Erica Lignell

Sources: The Economist, Unicef, BBC News, FORBES, The Guardian, AlJazeera, The New York Times, The New York Times(2)
Photo: Google Images

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13 Ways for Universities to Support Global Education

global_education

Many young people in countries around the world do not have access to the kind of education Americans have in the U.S. In an effort to support global education, universities can make important additions to their programs.

According to Ethiopian Education Activist Selamawit Adugna Bekele, global education can help solve many social and health problems. For instance, education in Africa could help solve the continent’s problems of corruption, gender inequality and HIV.

Girls, children with disabilities and children living in areas of conflict are particularly at risk for being denied education. Many of the countries that have a large population in poverty are also without public education systems to which impoverished families can send their children.

UNESCO reported in October 2013 that 31 million girls of primary school age are not in school, which is 4 million more than boys of primary school age. The EFA Global Monitoring Report for 2013-2014 found that girls at the lowest level of poverty have the least chance of finishing primary school.

Here are 13 ways for universities to support global education:

  1. Create video conferences in global classrooms. Video conferences can connect one American class with another class around the world.
  2. Offer low-cost study abroad opportunities for students studying education. This will show students the forms of education around the world and encourage them to be active supporters of global education.
  3. Encourage the U.S. to increase foreign aid to global education. Widespread education leads to better economies, which would also help alleviate global poverty.
  4. Encourage the U.S. and the UN to support governments’ efforts to create public education systems for both boys and girls. This may even include providing help when militant groups oppose education.
  5. Invite representatives from organizations such as the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and the VIF International Education, who promote global education, to speak during lectures or events.
  6. Invite teenagers or adults from less-developed countries to speak about their education during lectures or events.
  7. Make connections with national and international organizations to set up internships for the university’s students. The students will already be able to envision making global education their career.
  8. Dedicate a week or more out of each semester that focuses on increasing awareness about the need for global education.
  9. Create special programs to teach students how to combat global poverty. For instance, Austin College has a Social Entrepreneurship for Poverty Alleviation program that teaches students the skills they would need, such as finances, writing, community development, ethics, race relations, public speaking and human rights.
  10. Have requirements in certain classes for the students to visit local grade schools and promote a global perspective. This would likely apply to relevant departments, such as English, global studies, liberal studies, business and social work. Methods to promote a global perspective could include crafts, pen pals or showing videos of schools in other countries online.
  11. Encourage seniors to participate in the Fulbright Program, where recent graduates receive grants to teach English in other countries.
  12. Create majors and offer degrees that focus on promoting global education.
  13. Start an Adopt-A-School program, where the university adopts and supports a school in a poverty-stricken area in another country.

There are many ways that the students and staff of universities can use their resources to promote the education of everyone around the world, and campaigns to combat global poverty also contribute to the establishment of global education.

– Kimmi Ligh

Sources: The Olympian, VIF Program, Borgen MagazineFulbright Online, UNESCO Report 1, UNESCO Report 2
Photo: Day Trading Friends

Gender Inequality in Nepal’s Education System

Nepal’s education system has faced many problems since the mid 1800s. The first education system in Nepal was only available to elite families, and Nepali people did not have access to education until 100 years later in the 1950s. Current day education in Nepal is still in the developing stage and did not really start integrating the use of technology in the classroom until 2007.

One of the biggest problems in Nepal’s education system is female education. This issue has been neglected since the 1950s. In fact, there is an extreme inequality in the literacy rate between men and women. In Nepal, 71 percent of men can read and write, whereas only 44 percent of women can. This is a staggering inequality for women’s education and is a direct link to areas of poverty in Nepal.

Another issue in relation to women’s education is that parents do not have enough money to ensure their children have access to proper education. The issue of poverty is taking a toll on Nepal’s education system. The public school scores are very low; in 2013, 72 percent of students from those schools failed their exit exams. This leaves 335,912 public school students with no access to a future or hope in achieving their dreams. Furthermore, statistics provided by the Teach for Nepal foundation, which is aimed at giving these students access to educational resources, stated that 85 percent of first graders will drop out of the school system and 25 percent of the students left cannot count to double digits.

To illustrate the issues that Nepal’s public school systems face, the children need access to clean drinking water while they attend school as well as at home. Nepal faces extremely hot temperatures and school buildings are covered by a tin roof. This makes the thirsty children endure unbearable heat while attending school. This includes nurseries, kindergarten and lower grades as well. The lack of water and high temperatures result in the children having difficulty concentrating and comprehending the material at hand. Thus, this combined with child malnutrition in Nepal, children in public schools do not have an advantage to performing well and tend to fall behind or drop out of school.

Given these facts, Nepal’s school system is indeed fairly new and continuing to develop, but there is still limited access to public schools. This limited access is a result of isolation of women from continuing education which leads families into poverty. Also, Nepal’s social structure discourages people from pursuing teaching professions and is more geared towards STEM subjects like math, science and engineering. Once those problems are solved, Nepal can move forward with the developing public school system and continue to rise in human development as well.

– Rachel Cannon

Sources: Global Issues
Photo: Travel to Teach

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UN Women and the Fight for Equality

UN Women is an organization that was created in July 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly. The organization’s full name is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women; its mission is to promote gender equality throughout the world and champion women from all walks of life.

Many women in the world face discrimination in the workplace, and receive fewer opportunities when it comes to career and educational advancement. UN Women sees this kind of gender discrimination happening all over the world, and makes it a part of its agenda to ensure that women have basic and equal human rights. Women are often denied access to health care, and even worse, they lack the political voice to change such conditions because of their stark under-representation in governmental decision making.

One of the major issues on the UN Women’s agenda is the end to violence against women. In a 2013 global review, published by the World Health Organization, it was reported that 35 percent of women in the world have experienced some kind of violence from an intimate partner. UN Women also focuses on the different aspects that are associated with violence against women: sex trafficking, child brides, rape, and sexual harassment in the work or education place.

Partnering with government agencies is an effective way that UN Women is able to take action against the various forms of discrimination against women. UN Women channels its efforts on implementing laws that will help protect women against threats like violence. It also advocates for policies that will open up more economic opportunities for women.

The wage gap between men and women is something that UN Women takes very seriously and seeks to bring to a close by implementing policies that argue for fairness in the workplace. A large part of the organization’s mission to empower women comes from its dedication to spread awareness in response to the AIDS epidemic. Women make up 54 percent of all people living in the world with HIV. UN Women has made it a job to spread awareness on the factors connected to the spread of HIV/AIDS. With the help of its partners, and resources UN Women has been able to broadcast the voice of women living with AIDS and it takes steps to help prevent the spread of the disease.

UN Women is gaining momentum and acquiring more support. Actress, Nicole Kidman, showed her support for the organization during an acceptance speech at the Variety Magazine Power of Women Awards event. Kidman encouraged her audience to see the desperate need for women’s equality in the world.

– Chante Owens

Sources: UN Women, Daily Mail