Forum: ECOSOC
Issue: Promoting education for girls in LICUS countries
Student Officer: Halla Elkhwad
Position: Deputy Chair
Introduction
Around the world, 61 million girls of age for primary and secondary education are out of
school as reported by UNESCO. Gender discrimination in the education system is still very
prominent and very much a problem especially in LICUS countries and LEDCs. The benefits of
educating girls affects them far beyond the classroom. Girls that are educated marry later, have
fewer kids, are less likely to contract HIV, and are less likely to die during childbirth.
Girls have had a long history of being left out of the education system for various
reasons. Common factors that lead to girls not being in school include cultural and social views,
socioeconomic limitations, distance of schools, child marriage, and school-based violence. All of
these factors combined with valuing a girls’ education less than a boy’s can make it difficult for
their education to be attainable.
The right to an education is necessary for all people to prosper economically and
socially. When girls are educated it not only changes their lives but the lives of their families and
communities. As reported by Girl Up “When girls are empowered, it benefits all of us.
Investing in girls is key to reducing poverty”. We see evidence of this when they report,
“Every year of schooling increases a girl’s future earnings by 10-20%”. Girls are then more
likely to invest that money back into their communities and grow the economy.
Definition of Key Terms
Equal Access
In regard to this issue, equal access means that internationally, all children, regardless
of their race, gender, or socioeconomic status, should have equal opportunities in
accessing education and equal opportunities presented to them throughout their
academic lives.
Empowerment
Empowerment speaks of women’s empowerment and is defined as the process of
becoming more confident especially through claiming one’s rights and taking control of
one’s life.
Gender-based violence
Violence against women, that results in physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to
women and includes any threats of such acts or removal of liberties.
Gender Disparity
Disparity is defined as a great difference so in the context of the issue at hand gender
disparity is used to describe the unequal treatment or expectations of individuals based
on their gender.
LICUS
LICUS stands for Low Income Countries Under Stress and are identified by low Country
Policy and Institutional Performance Assessment (CPIA) ratings. Examples of such
countries include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Liberia, and Somalia.
NGO
NGO stands for non-governmental organization and is a non-profit organization that
functions independently from states and international government organization.
Background Information
Access to education for everyone has been recognized as a right by the United Nations since
1948 when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the General Assembly.
This right has been reaffirmed many times since in declarations and conventions, and it has
been explicitly stated that this right applies to females as well as males.
Closing the Education Gap
At Dakar, in April 2000, developing countries pledged their commitment to the education of girls
through the formation of UNGEI. As a result of this and other similar commitments made, money
has been invested into the cause and strides towards hiring girls’ enrollment in schools have
been made. As of 2012, two thirds of countries had reached parity between girls and boys’
enrollment in primary schools. Additionally, between 1970 and 2010 girls’ enrollment in
secondary school had almost tripled. Nevertheless significant progress still needs to be made.
While primary school enrollment rates for girls have dramatically increased, girls are still
remaining out of school in the secondary level. According to the UNESCO 2011 Education for
All Global Monitoring Report, it has been difficult to make progress in women’s literacy. The
progress has been described as “disappointing at best and desultory at worst”.
Obstacles in Attaining Girls’ Education
Best stated in the document From Access to Equality, “Gender disparities in access to
secondary education can be traced back to how families value the education of girls, as well as
their economic means”.
Socio-economic Limitations
Many families deem a girl’s contributions through taking care of siblings, earning a salary
through a job, or as a potential bride as more valuable than her education. Research and
studies in many countries, such as Bangladesh and Cambodia, have shown that there is
a direct positive correlation with the rise of a family’s income making them more likely to
send their daughters to school.
Education Policies and Financing
The education system itself is sometimes to blame for girls’ not attending schools. Early
pregnancy, marriage, and motherhood are all things that the current education systems
in LICUS countries do not cater to. Though more than 50% of women in Sub Saharan
Africa are reported to be pregnant before the age of 20, countries continue to implement
practices that keep pregnant girls from getting an education. An issue regarding finance
is the building of bathroom facilities for both boys and girls. Many girls feel as though
they must drop out of school at the onset of their menstruation because they have no
separate facilities.
Social Norms, Cultural Expectations, and Gender Stereotyping in Teaching
With girls’ school attendance not quite being a norm in many developing countries many
parents hold the belief that sending their daughters to school will result in them not
making good wives or mothers. Girls and women who want to be educated often receive
little support from husbands or families. This can be due to safety concerns but is mostly
accounted for in negative beliefs about women and the necessity of their education.
Gender stereotypes in these cultures also manifest in their curriculums. Science and
Mathematics which are regarded as “male subjects” are often not taught to girls.
Major Parties Involved
Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, only 40% of girls have attended an elementary school and only 5% continue
beyond the sixth grade. A major contributing factor to this is child marriage. More than 50% of
Afghan girls are married before the age of 12 and girls often stop attending school once they are
married.
Pakistan
Pakistan has over 5.3 million children out of school, the third highest rate in the world. Out of
this number 63% are girls. Poverty in the country often means that families are forced to send a
child to work rather than to school. A lack of qualified teachers, long standing traditions, and
religious beliefs are all cited as major contributors for the outstanding rate of girls not attending
school in the country.
Yemen
In Yemen, 81% of girls attend primary school but this percentage drops significantly to 34% of
girls still in school by the time they are of age for secondary school. Low enrollment rates of girls
in schools are being attributed to economical reasons. Book and uniform fees are often a high
price for the impoverished families to pay and in order to support themselves, families are in
need of a child to work in the fields. The education of boys is prioritized above that of girls so
when families can’t afford to send both genders to school it is the boy that will go.
Somalia
Somalia has a 15% female primary school attendance rate, the worst attendance rate in the
world. Somalia is ranked one of the worst countries to be a women. Gender-based violence and
discrimination against women is extremely common. Said gender-based violence often goes
unpunished as tradition and customs carry more weight than state judiciary. Furthermore, 45%
of women are married before the age of 18
United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative
UNGEI was founded by the United Nations in the year 2000 at the World Education Forum in
Dakar. UNGEI became the first global partnership that worked specifically towards promoting
education for girls. The organization works to increase the number of girls attending schools
especially focusing on marginalized groups and decrease school-related gender based
violence.
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNESCO was founded on November 16, 1945 with the goal of creating peace and security
through joining nations together through education, science, and culture. UNESCO aims to start
dialogues about issues affecting our world as the first step to solve problems. Gender equality is
a global priority for UNESCO and girls’ education in LICUS correlates with the UNESCO
Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5, quality education and gender equality respectively. In
2011 UNESCO launched Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education also known as
Better Life, Better Future. The goal of the organization is to increase available learning
opportunities for girls and women and find solutions for the hindrances girls may have in trying
to get an education.
Timeline of Events
Date
Description of Events
1787
First academy for girls opens in Philadelphia
1815
Emma Willard, Catharine Beecher, and Mary Lyon headed the Female Seminary
Movement that aimed to establish schools for women that provided equal
opportunities
1848
Seneca Falls Convention was held in New York to discuss the social, civil, and
religious status of women
1945
UNESCO was founded
1980
Women attend college at the same rate that men do
2011
UNESCO launched Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education
UN Involvement, Relevant Resolutions, Treaties, and Events
●
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination in Education; General Assembly 1960
●
The World Conference of the International Women’s Year held in Mexico in the year
1975
●
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW), General Assembly 1979
●
The World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women took place in
Copenhagen in 1980
●
The World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the UN Decade for
Women took place in Nairobi
●
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women came
into force in 1981
●
The Convention on the Rights of the Child came into force on September 2, 1990
●
The Fourth World Conference on Women took place in Beijing 1995
●
The Security Council adopted resolution (S/RES/1325) on October 31, 2000
●
United Nations Literacy Decade: education for all, December 19, 2001(A/RES/56/116)
●
The UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) was
formed in July, 2010
Evaluation of Previous Attempts to Resolve the Issue
Over the years, the issue of increasing girls’ education has been addressed many times though
one of the most major attempts in resolving the issue has been the Fourth World Conference on
Women held in Beijing in 1995. This resolution attempts to address the issue in its clause titled
“Education and Training of Women”. This clause does a very good good evaluating the issue
and its causes. Then the resolution goes on to lay out its goals for the future. Some of these
goals have been met or almost met such as having equal numbers of boys and girls in primary
schools while other goals have had minimal progress such as eliminating biased curriculums for
boys and girls. A reason for someone of these goals falling short could be the lack of actionable
steps available in the resolution which makes it hard for countries to try and work towards these
goals.
Possible Solutions
A major contributor to girls’ not attending school is child marriage. Raising the legal marriage
age for girls can help keep them in schools. The real challenge, however, is having that legal
age enforced. Many government officials would willingly marry those under legal age for a small
bribe for them to look the other way.
Providing financial support for school supplies, uniforms, and other costs necessary for the girls
to attend would be helpful in getting girls and education. Many of the girls that are unable to go
to school cannot attend because their families are too poor to afford mandatory things like
uniforms or their school supplies.
Combating harmful traditions of gender-violence and discrimination can help girls attain and
education. By starting dialogues in communities about gender-violence, sexism, and equal
opportunity for girls and boys, citizens of those communities can start to understand how their
gender dynamic came to be what it is today and progress towards recognizing the equal status
of men and women.
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