Education of Girls & Women Vital for Empowerment, Rights, Gender Equality, Reduced HIV/AIDS Risk +
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: March 12, 2007
Get All Girls Into
School
Across the world today, 1 in every 5
girls of primary school age are not in school.
When girls miss out, not only are
they denied the chance to learn to read and write, earn a living and participate
in democracy, it also puts their lives in jeopardy.
Education gives women and girls the
skills, knowledge and confidence they need to protect themselves against HIV and
AIDS. The Global Campaign for Education is calling on world leaders to
JOIN UP and take urgent action now. They must ensure everyone, especially girls,
can go to school and get the education needed to fight for their rights.
Poorer countries need to enact policies that will make school free, accessible
and safe for girls and boys, whilst rich countries must live up to promises
repeatedly made, and still not fulfilled, to increase aid in support of these
policies.
“World leaders barely raised an
eyebrow when we missed the Millennium Development Goal to eliminate gender
disparity in primary and secondary education. Shockingly 94 countries
missed this target. Two years on it is a travesty that the international
community continues to stand by as millions of girls are denied their rights to
a life-saving education.”
(Maria Khan, GCE Board Member &
ASPBAE)
Around the world 80
million children, mostly girls, are out of school. 800 million adults,
mostly women, cannot read and write. Yet free education has been
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights since 1948.
Giving girls’ the
chance to learn to read and write not only fulfils their right to an education –
but it also helps them in challenging the many power imbalances between men and
women, and crucially in protecting themselves against HIV.
In a survey carried
out last year 30% of girls in
sexual experience was under force or threat of force. When it comes to
HIV and AIDS women and girls fare the worst – accounting for 74% of young people
living with HIV in
At present many
women simply do not have the power they need to decide who to have sex with,
when to have sex and how to have safe sex. Education can give women a
chance to challenge this situation. The more education women and girls
receive, the better they are able to negotiate safer sex and HIV rates.
This is clearly demonstrated in
in school are HIV negative, while 2 in 3 of girls out of school are HIV
positive.
Girls who complete
primary school are 50% less likely to be infected with HIV. Seven million
cases of HIV could be prevented in a decade if all children attended primary
school.
Not only are
educated girls better able to protect their own health but they are also able to
make informed choices that can protect the health of their family and earn a
greater income, giving them more bargaining power within the home:
-
The children of women who can read
and write are 50% more likely to live past the age of 5. - In poor countries, each year of
schooling increases girls’ future earning power by 10-20%.
The Global Campaign
for Education asks that leaders no longer turn a blind eye whilst the rights of
women and girls are denied. Give them a fighting chance. Ensure
education is of high quality, free and accessible to everyone, especially
girls.
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