IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION IN REVERSING PRACTICE OF GENITAL MUTILATION EMPHASIZED AS ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE CONSIDERS REPORT OF ETHIOPIA
Press Release
WOM/882
IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION IN REVERSING PRACTICE OF GENITAL MUTILATION EMPHASIZED AS ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE CONSIDERS REPORT OF ETHIOPIA
19960119 Experts this morning stressed the importance of education in reversing the traditional practice of genital mutilation which affects 90 per cent of Ethiopian women, as the Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women began consideration of that country's combined initial, second and third periodic report.Reviewing Ethiopia's compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, expert members of the Committee asked what kind of pressure had been brought to bear by the privileged, educated women of Ethiopia to get the Government to eradicate the practice of mutilation. Concern was also expressed about illiteracy among women, as well as about the economic factors that led women into prostitution.
Introducing her country's report, the Minister for Women's Affairs of Ethiopia, Tedelech Haile-Michael, said Ethiopia had accepted the Beijing Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women. However, as achieving its goals would require a massive outlay of financial resources, she appealed for material, moral and technical assistance.
When the Convention was signed in 1981, its implementation was hampered owing to the war in her country, she said. However, the present Government was committed to the advancement of women and had established a women's affairs office within the Prime Minister's office. It had also adopted a national policy on women aimed at promoting equality, improving living standards and enhancing the status of rural women.
The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue its discussion of Ethiopia's report.
Committee Work Programme
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women met this morning to begin its consideration of the combined initial, second and third periodic report of Ethiopia (CEDAW/C/ETH/1-3 and Add.1).
The report, dated May 1993, states that traditionally, partly determined by religion or ethnic values, the role of women in nearly all local Ethiopian societies was subordinate to men.
Though the enrolment of girls in schools had increased fourfold since 1974, there was a sharp decrease in the number of girls enrolled at higher education levels, the report says. Less access to vocational training was available to women when compared to men. Early marriage practices also hindered performance and enrolment of females. Though education was not compulsory in Ethiopia, the country's education policy did not discriminate based on gender.
In rural Ethiopia, women constituted 51.4 per cent of the labour force, but they were omitted from statistical records on account of the impracticability of collecting information, according to the report. In urban areas, most women were employed in the food processing, textile, garment, rubber and chemical industries.
The brunt of recent tragedies of man-made and natural disasters had left women in situations of adversity, the report adds. Cuts in social services had meant more work and longer working hours for women who had to care for the sick and the old. High unemployment had led to women losing their jobs first. Old customs also challenged the health of the women. Those included early marriage, genital mutilation -- which victimized 90 per cent of Ethiopian women -- wrong practices during labour and delivery, sending women out of the house or leaving them alone during birth, keeping new-born infants and their mothers away from sunlight, and food taboos. Moreover, the lack of access to contraceptives led to frequent deaths from unhygienic abortions.
The reports states that the civil code of Ethiopia provided that the husband was the head of the family, and the wife had to be obedient to him. Though officially the legislation did not discriminate against women in the ownership of property, in practice women exercised very little control over property.
The report's addendum, dated October 1995, states that a very low percentage of females in the country worked in professional, technical, administrative and managerial groups. Wide gaps remained in educational opportunities, and only 12 out of 100 grade one female entrants completed grade 12. The fertility rate continued to be 38 per cent higher than the average of all low-income countries combined, and 60 per cent of the Ethiopian
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population suffered from harmful traditional practices. In addition, laws such as the family code and the pension law were discriminatory towards women.
The Transitional Government of Ethiopia, established in July 1991, had taken steps to address gender disparities, the report says. It had created a national machinery, a number of gender-sensitive policies and an enabling environment for advocacy.
In 1980, the Revolutionary Ethiopian Women's Association had been formed, the report adds. A number of women's affairs units in government offices were established in the 1980s, including in the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and in the Ministry of Agriculture. Additionally, a Women's Affairs Office was created by the Transitional Government in the Prime Minister's Office. Ten ongoing projects and nine new programmes were being formulated to improve the situation of women, including programmes to formulate gender-sensitive policy, a national literacy programme and legal reform. The operationalization of the projects would occur within a 10-year period at an estimated cost of $17.3 million. The Ethiopian Government had earmarked 50 per cent from its budget, and 50 per cent was solicited from donors.
The report states that, although Ethiopia was a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, it had not signed the Convention on the Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages. Nor had it signed the Convention on Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value. Moreover, so far as national legislation was concerned, even when the Constitution contained the principles of equal rights, those had not been followed by the repeal of discriminatory aspects of Ethiopian private law.
In order to address the problem of inequality, the Transitional Government in Ethiopia had brought into force a new Constitution in 1994 which had specified that any law, customary practice or act of any government agency that contravened the Constitution, was invalid, the report adds.
Introduction of Report
TADELECH HAILE-MICHAEL, Minister for Women's Affairs, Ethiopia, introducing that country's combined initial, second and third report, said the political situation in her country in 1981, when the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was signed, was not conducive to its implementation. During the time of accession, the Government was fully engaged in war, which absorbed about 60 per cent of the national budget. Death, disablement and displacement were of "mind boggling proportions", she stated, and war, chronic drought and famine cost million of lives.
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The change in government in 1991 brought a transition from war to peace, from dictatorship to democracy, and from a command economy to a more market- oriented economy, she continued. However, the Government inherited a shattered economy aggravated by chronic problems of underdevelopment, displacement and large numbers of refugees. There was a dramatic rise in the number of widows, street children, the disabled and beggars in the cities.
In response to the situation, the Transitional Government formulated a national economic policy and undertook a series of socio-political and economic reforms, she continued. Regional governments with the necessary legislative, executive and judicial powers had been established since January 1992. A new Constitution was adopted in 1994 and a Federal Government was formed in 1995. The changes were having a positive impact on the welfare of Ethiopian women and children.
She said the situation of Ethiopian women was particularly difficult due to the country's economic backwardness and women's disadvantaged access to opportunities. A typical Ethiopian woman was "impoverished, living on the verge of subsistence ... given in marriage early, bearing many children to replace the ones who die ..., has no access to basic health services, and lives in conditions of very high maternal and infant mortality". The typical woman had no education or information on nutrition, hygiene and family planning, and no access to and control of land and other property, or access to credit.
Despite the situation, she said the Government was committed to the advancement of women. In 1991, a Women's Affairs Office was established within the office of the Prime Minister, and a national policy on Ethiopian women was adopted in 1993. The Women's Affairs Office served as the focal point to formulate, coordinate and implement the women's policy which sought to eliminate customary practices based on the idea of male supremacy, increase the number of women in decision-making positions, improve the living standards of women, and enhance the status of rural women.
She said several measures had taken place to address gender disparities. The new Constitution reflected a strong commitment to the principles of the Convention, which has been translated into the Amharic language and distributed during discussion of the Constitution. Thirteen seats in the 548- seat Parliament were held by women. A committee on equality for women had been established in the Parliament to promote women's rights. In the Urban Dwellers Association, where community matters were decided, 66 per cent of those elected were women.
Ethiopia had accepted the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women last September without reservation and was focusing on poverty reduction and human development to improve the standard of living of women and children, she continued. The Women's Affairs Office was
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compiling gender specific statistics to monitor the impact of programmes on girls and women. Poverty was the root cause of the many problems faced by women.
She said a massive outlay of financial resources was required for Ethiopia to attain its goals for women. Despite its limited capacity, the Government had allocated substantial financial and material resources to women's programmes. However, a lot was expected from the donor community. She appealed to the Committee for the provision of "material, moral and technical assistance".
Discussion of Report
The Chairman of the Committee, IVANKA CORTI, expert from Italy, said the emphasis on obligatory education in Ethiopia was only to the extent permitted by economic conditions. She expressed concern about the situation of women in that country and hoped that, with the commitment of women like the Minister for Women's Affairs, success would be achieved in alleviating the situation of women.
An expert said Ethiopia was a founder member of both the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Noting that it had adopted the Beijing Platform for Action and had committed itself to alleviating the situation of women, she expressed the hope that the country would be able to honour its commitment. She also asked whether there were mechanisms in place to prevent a scenario similar to that of Rwanda; women and children were 80 per cent of the displaced in Ethiopia. Concern was expressed about the taking up of arms by factions and parties in the country.
Another expert said poverty and deep-rooted traditional practices were the bane of women in Ethiopia. The education process should include the education of men as well, so that their attitudes towards women might be altered. Financial assistance from the international organizations was needed for programmes to improve the condition of women.
Lauding the frankness of the Minister's report, another expert stressed that development could occur only if there was true partnership between men and women. In rural areas, women and children below fifteen years accounted for more than 80 per cent of the population. Women who were poor, uneducated and mother to eight or 10 children could not be expected to contribute to their country.
Another expert said that, in addition to problems faced by women in all the least developed countries, militarization had exacerbated their problems in Ethiopia. The issue of lack of visibility of women's contribution to society had to be addressed, partly by placing more women at policy-making level.
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Realistic assessment was the first step to improving the situation; Ethiopia had taken that step by presenting a report which gave a frank account of the problems facing its women, an expert said. An interim report from Ethiopia on an exceptional basis would be welcome.
Another expert said domestic violence in Africa often went unreported. The fact that the issue had been included in the report might prove to be the first step in combating traditional practices and attitudes which were violent to women. Women's capacity to combat violence began with their empowerment at local level, and steps in those direction ought to be taken.
Speaking on article 2 of the Convention -- by which the States parties agree to combat discrimination in various ways, including the adoption of laws prohibiting discrimination and ensuring that public authorities and institutions refrain from any discriminatory act or practice -- an expert asked whether the Convention could be invoked in the courts of law, since Ethiopia had signed it without any reservation.
Another expert said the report had honestly presented the situation in Ethiopia. There were very strong stereotypes on the status of men and women. Hence, changes in the situation of women in Ethiopia was a long-term undertaking, and involved building a new culture of relationship between the sexes. The Government must have a strategy for dealing with the problem if change was to be effected.
While laws did not necessarily change social and cultural realities, they were an important frame of reference for determining actions to be taken by governments, she said. Ethiopia's report stated that cultural obstacles were quite fundamental; Ethiopian women were basically subordinated in a patriarchal society. What laws would be enacted to change that situation? What would be done by the Government to remedy the most serious violations of women's human rights?
Also speaking on article 2, another expert said there were three types of law in effect in Ethiopia. There was international law, which could not necessarily be invoked in courts; national law, which was discriminatory; and customary law, which differed among ethnic groups. It was necessary to have information on the customary law if there was to be any change. Was such information available?
Speaking on article 3 -- by which States parties agree to make changes in their laws as necessary to guarantee women's basic rights and freedoms -- another expert said the problems faced by women in Ethiopia were multisectoral. Having more institutions involved could help promote progress. However, as the current machinery was new, the abundance of mechanisms sometimes created problems. Powers must be very clearly defined and policies
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coordinated. Without that, initiatives might be blocked, as had happened in Burkina Faso at one point.
Referring to "the post-Beijing approach", she said the Ministry of Social Affairs often had minimal resources, and programmes were often underfinanced. That posed quite a challenge. The establishment of a national machinery at the level of the Prime Minister's office was very important.
Speaking on article 4 -- which states that temporary measures taken to accelerate women's equality, as well as maternity protection measures, shall not be considered discriminatory -- an expert said that literacy among girls was very low. The affirmative action programme should start from basic education. Were there training programmes to cut down on the numbers of women who were forced into prostitution as a means of survival? Another expert asked what had been done to promote Ethiopia's women's policy.
Speaking on article 5 -- by which States parties are required to eliminate practices based on the idea of the inferiority or superiority of either sex, and to ensure that family education teaches that men and women share a common role in bringing up children -- an expert said that the obstacles encountered by the Ethiopian Government were enormous.
Were the Government and non-governmental organizations making use of the Convention and the general recommendations of the Committee? she asked. Had information been provided to the rapporteurs? Had they been invited to visit the country? Various forms of genital mutilation persisted in Ethiopia. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, as well as the delegation's report, both stated such violence was common in Ethiopia.
Was there a national plan to deal with violence against women? she asked. Were health professionals, doctors, nurses, teachers, judges, and leaders from different ethnic groups being trained on the need to eliminate all kinds of violence against women, and on the negative consequence on women's health of a number of traditional practices? The report provided little information on article 6, which requires that States act to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women. Could information be provided regarding implementation of that article?
Also speaking on article 5, another expert said that 40 million people in Ethiopia were women or children, representing two thirds of the population. To bring about qualitative change, women and children had to become the focus of attention. At present, as spelled out in the report, the needs of women were not taken into account. Prostitution was considered a "working option". If the Government banned prostitution, many women would be sent to their deaths owing to starvation or extreme poverty.
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The dignity of Ethiopian society required that the status of women and children be raised, she said. What did the Government intend to do to introduce "cultural considerations" into the educational system. Education was an option which could not be disregarded. Education was needed if there was to be a profound, structural change in the status of women.
Another expert said she felt overwhelmed in reading Ethiopia's report. The last thing that changed in a people was often their mentality. A stereotypical mentality could not be changed without an indefatigable educational effort. Ethiopia had unreservedly ratified the Convention, and women in the privileged classes did hold positions of power. However, the report states that women were not taken seriously and that attention was not given to their concerns.
The fact that 90 per cent of Ethiopian women were subject to mutilation indicated that there was a double standard, she said. One could not ratify the Convention and then fail to take action to prevent the mutilation of girls, which was a crime. Such crimes were committed both through acts of commission and of omission. What kind of pressure had been brought to bear by the privileged, educated women, to get the Government to act to eradicate the mutilation of girls? Were women in that class organized? If so, what kind of power did they have?
Had the Government made declarations aimed at curbing the mutilation of girls? she asked. Was mutilation described as a crime under Ethiopian law? Was it prosecuted as a crime, and offenders punished? Was there any kind of massive informational campaign under way to try to change the mentality of the people, and to make it clear that the mutilation of girls must be eradicated?
The Committee Chairman, Ms. CORTI of Italy, said it was clear that the practice of mutilation was still widespread. The Committee had been told that it was a tradition that was deeply embedded in the custom of countries and could not be eliminated by means of laws, and that such laws could provoke conflicts, sometimes very serious conflicts. The women who accepted such practices which affected their girls must be made to understand that they were cruel practices. Perhaps, the Committee should ask what programmes the Minister for Women was planning for education among women, in order to begin the process of eliminating mutilation.
The Committee had also been told that it was not simply a matter that women accepted the practice, she continued. Women who performed the practice would lose their work if it was eliminated. Such considerations must be kept in mind.
On article 6, an expert said that a growing number of schoolgirls were reporting cases of sexual harassment from their teachers. Non-governmental organizations had reported that a number of schoolgirls were resorting to
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prostitution to pay their fees. She wondered whether the Government was looking into the problem and providing protection to the girls. She also wanted to know whether a legal age for entering into marriage was going to be established by the Government.
Another expert wanted to know the measures being taken for the rehabilitation of women and children engaged in prostitution. She also sought information about steps to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS.
Regarding article 7, which provides that women shall share on equal terms with men in the political and public life of the country, an expert wanted to know about the number of women judges and lawyers in Ethiopia. Another said the percentage of women in Parliament was very low and wondered if there was any possibility of introducing legislation that would ensure a minimum number of women in decision-making bodies.
Speaking on article 10, which calls for women to be granted equal rights with men in education, an expert said the high level of illiteracy among women was unacceptable. She asked for information on the number of school drop-outs and asked what was being done to keep them in schools. Information was also sought on the programmes to train women for the work force.
Another expert said it would be unrealistic to expect very quick change in Ethiopia. The policy on improving the situation of women ought to be integrated into the national policy. Education was the most important vehicle of change; schools in which both teachers and pupils were females should be established. The importance of peace as a pre-condition for social development was emphasized.
Another expert said the situation in Ethiopia was distressing. Poverty and cultural traditions in Ethiopia had resulted in a fair amount of backwardness. Education was essential to development and to the changing of cultural stereotypes. Dropping out was prevalent in Ethiopia. Her country, Colombia, had a programme which enabled students to drop out for a certain period -- at harvest time, for example -- and then to return to classes. That initiative had been supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Perhaps, Ethiopia might seek UNICEF's assistance. Was anything being done to address the need to change values?
Another expert also stressed the value of education. If Ethiopian society was to move forward, the Government must make a special effort to invest in education -- particularly for women and girls. While that was clearly a long-term investment, it would help the society overcome many of the terrible problems facing the country. It would improve women's ability to care for themselves and for their children. Special attention should be paid
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to overcome illiteracy among Ethiopian women and to promote the attainment of legal literacy.
Free school was not immediately foreseeable in many African countries, another expert said. The African school had copied the Western model, which was not suitable to Africa's needs. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had come to the same conclusion. Although education was the way forward, the resources were not available. What was to be done?
In her country, Burkina Faso, there had been a shift to informal education, in an effort to address a situation of illiteracy similar to that in Ethiopia, she said. There was a focus on information, education and communication, as well as on technical and vocational training. Many children died in Africa as a result of ignorance and lack of hygiene. Education helped correct that situation. It also helped women to form cooperatives and to identify the issues of most concern to women.
In her country, the people think they are helping the girl by carrying out mutilation. Without that belief, they would not take the risks entailed, which sometimes included the death of the child. A campaign was, therefore, undertaken to inform the people about the practice, as well as to hear their views. After much communication, the practice continued in some regions. So, in the second stage, sentences and penalties were to be imposed. Although criticized by some feminists as too traditional, family assistance schools had been set up to professionalize the status of maids and cooks, for example, in order to prevent their exploitation.
Education was crucial for women's empowerment, another expert said. In her country, affirmative action was needed to increase the enrolment and retention of girls in schools. With the right strategies, results could be achieved in a very short time. Since 1989, education had been free for all girls. To promote retention, the Government provided food to the parents of girls for each day's attendance at school. Another model, mostly followed by non-governmental organizations, required a ratio of girls to boys in the classroom which had led to equal enrolment levels.
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