COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN DISCUSSES EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF WOMEN
Press Release
WOM/965
COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN DISCUSSES EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF WOMEN
19970314 Feminization of unemployment in the transitional economies could be avoided by retraining women and educating them to adapt to new conditions in the labour market, the Commission on the Status of Women was told this morning as it heard a panel discussion on the theme of "education and training of women".Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko, Director of the Department for Links with the Subjects of Federation, Parliament, Public and Political Organizations, Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation, said women accounted for a majority of the unemployed in her country. In that context, she stressed the need for providing special services for women with children of pre-school age, as well to those with handicapped children. Moreover, women should be provided with methodological and legal help and help to open their own businesses, she said.
Today's panel discussion was part of a series of discussions that the Commission is holding on four critical areas of concern of the Platform for Action adopted by the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing. Those areas include: education and training of women; women and the economy; women in power and decision-making; and women and the environment.
Education was an inalienable right that safeguarded human dignity, Irene de la Caridad Rivera Ferreiro, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Education of Cuba, said. She stressed the importance of access to education and said that Cuba was the only country in Latin America that provided education to all women irrespective of their age. Emphasizing that the State had a major role to play in the area of education, she said international organizations should help to safeguard national sovereignty in the area of education.
Celia Eccher, of the International Council for Adult Education of Uruguay, stressed the need for a firm commitment to the follow-up of the Beijing Platform for Action. She drew attention to the hurdles faced by women in full access to citizenship. While voting rights and the right to work had been recognized now for half a century in many countries, hardly anywhere had those been realized to a full extent, she said. Therefore, it was important that governments, non-governmental organizations and media work together to ensure equal access of women to education.
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Africa continued to have the lowest enrolment, literacy and retention rates in the developing world, Aicha Bah Diallo, Director of the Division of Basic Education of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said. In that context, she stressed the need to strengthen networks to nurture partnerships and the need to develop instruments for training on strategic resource planning. It was also important to strengthen policy and research-based activities, she said.
In a question-and-answer session that followed the panel discussion, representatives of member States noted that the existing socialization process was gender-biased. They stressed the need to ensure that parenting was gender-sensitive. It was also underscored that the media had a role to play in making the society more gender-sensitive. Further, it was emphasized that in order to remedy women's exclusion from certain male-dominated fields, legislation would have to be promulgated and existing laws implemented.
Also, this morning, the Commission heard statements from the representatives of the following organizations: the Intra-American Commission on Women of the Organization of American States; Disabled Peoples' International; African Women's NGO Caucus; the Committee on Action for the Rights of Children and Women; the Soroptimist International of the United Kingdom; the Federation of International Immigrant Women Associations of Sweden and the World Federation of United Nations Associations; and the International Federation of University Women.
The Commission will meet again at 3 p.m. today to hear a dialogue among governments on the theme of education and training of women.
Commission Work Programme
The Commission on the Status of Women met this morning to hear a panel discussion on the theme of "education and training of women". That theme is one of the four critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform for Action, adopted by the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, that the Commission is focusing on during its current session. The other three areas of concern are: women and the environment; women in power and decision-making; and women and the economy.
Panel Discussion
ZAKIA AMARA BOUAZIZ (Tunisia), Vice-Chairperson of the Commission and moderator of the discussion, introduced the panellists.
IRENE DE LA CARIDAD RIVERA FERREIRO, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Education of Cuba, said education was a decisive factor in the progress of women in the next century. Education improved the human quality of life. Also, education was an inalienable human right that safeguarded human dignity.
Cuban women represented over half of all sectors of the economy, she said. They had progressed from improving general well-being of their lives to controlling their own lives. Governments needed to focus more on the education of women. There needed to be focus on keeping children in school as there was a high drop-out rate. Cuba was the only country in Latin America that provided education to all young and older women. The major role in the area of education was the State, she said, adding that international organizations should help to safeguard national sovereignty as it related to education.
The Platform for Action had helped to improve access of women to education by influencing governments and non-governmental organizations, she said. There needed to be further empowerment of women in that area. In Cuba, there was an appreciative qualitative change in the roles of women and men in all areas of life.
VALENTINA IVANOVNA MATVIENKO, Member of Board, Director of the Department for Links with the Subjects of Federation, Parliament, Public and Political Organizations, Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation, said her country faced a complicated situation as it had recently embarked on the path to market economy and democratization. Education could help in laying down the basis of that new socio-economic system. Therefore, it was important to maintain high educational standards in schools, while, at the same time, it was crucial to affect changes. It had to be ensured that education no longer had ideological dictates. Instead, it had to be open.
Women accounted for more than 60 per cent of specialists in Russia and formed the most educated part of the society, she said. However, today almost
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40 per cent of women were unemployed, and in some areas that figure was as high as 70 per cent. Therefore, together with issues of general education, the country had to tackle the issue of educating women to adapt to new conditions in the labour market. Women's retraining was important in order to avoid a feminization of unemployment. In that context, special services had to be provided for women with children of pre-school age, as well and those with handicapped children. Non-governmental organizations for women, which numbered more than 400 in the Russian Federation, could and were playing a role in that.
She also stressed the need for providing women with methodological and legal help, as well as help in opening their own businesses. In transitional economies, the fact that people were oriented to something like "guaranteed" employment should be kept in mind. In dealing with the high rates of unemployment, national governments of transitional economies should be assisted by the international community. The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing had clearly recognized that need. Specific plans were required so that transitional countries could retrain unemployed women. A significant role could be played by the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in that regard. She also suggested that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) should put together a list of birthdays of prominent women from different countries, which could list their achievements and be called something like "women in history". Such a list would provide inspiration to other women.
AICHA BAH DIALLO, Director, Division of Basic Education, UNESCO, former Minister of Pre-University Education in Guinea, said that the declaration by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) of 1996 as the "Year of Education in Africa" illustrated the centrality of education to development efforts. As the President of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, stated at the Fourth World Conference on Women, "the education of girls is the key to the future".
Africa continued to have the lowest enrolment rates, literacy rates and repetition rates in the developing world, she said. Fifty per cent of primary school-age children in Africa did not attend school. The enrolment rate for African girls was as low as 45 per cent. At the same time, budgets for education had been declining as defence funds continued to increase.
Teachers were in short supply in Africa, with women making up less than half of the teaching corps, she said. The number of women teaching technical subjects was low. The FAWE, a Pan-African non-governmental organization, had established six main areas of action to promote equity, expand access and improve the quality of education. Those included the strengthening of networks to nurture partnerships, the development of instruments for training on strategic resource planning and the strengthening of policy and research- based activities.
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The UNESCO had many activities for the education of girls and women in Africa, she said. Various programmes included scientific, technical and vocational education of girls in Africa, training of craftswomen, training in water resource supply and use and community development programmes in rural areas. The challenge in Africa was great, but its leaders and its people were convinced that there was no meaningful and lasting development without education. CELIA ECCHER (Uruguay), of the International Council for Adult Education, said there had to be a firm commitment to follow up the Beijing Platform for Action. The follow-up had to be carried out at all levels for it to be successful. There was a need for women to exercise their rights and broaden their citizenship. In that regard, education was an inalienable right for women. Recalling that an international conference for adult people was to be held in Hamburg, Germany, she said that it should be kept in mind that a focus on education that empowered women to be full citizens in control of their lives was required.
How should the Platform for Action be transformed into action? she asked. One of the ways of implementing it was to try to counter the growing economic injustice and violence faced by women on a daily basis. She stressed that women faced serious hurdles in their full access to citizenship. While voting rights and full right to work had been recognized now for half a century in many countries, hardly anywhere had those been realized to a full extent. She stressed that if all the actors, such as the non-governmental organizations, media and governments, worked together, it was possible to break the cycle of poverty. In addition, she emphasized the need for women to be involved in decision-making, including economic decision-making. Also, they had to be equipped with the ability to respond to new situations. An overall commitment of all governments to improving the education and training facilities available to women was important in that regard.
Ms. BOUAZIZ (Tunisia), the panel's moderator, said economic growth and prosperity demanded that women and men enjoy equal access to education. There was a high incidence of illiteracy in the developing countries and even in Europe, where only 2 per cent of the population were illiterate, most were women. The deprivation of equal rights of girls and women violated human dignity. Primary education was the starting point for any later education or access to economic life.
Professional segregation continued even though women had better access to decision-making positions, she said. Women continued to have lower level jobs. Women often took "literary careers". Women were encouraged to go in to textiles and other traditional jobs. Tunisia introduced a reform that made education compulsory and changed the sexist overtones of textbooks. That had helped to create better equality. There was also much less school drop-out in Tunisia today. Women were participating in science at universities. The efforts to wipe out illiteracy, especially in rural areas, were continuing.
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Question-and-Answer Session
In a question-and-answer session following the panel discussion, representatives of member States stressed that all types of education, including technical, scientific and university level, should be ensured for women. It was stressed by the representative of the European Union that participation by women in non-formal education was a complimentary component of comprehensive education. The representative of the European Community said education was essential for women to gain true integration into society.
It was noted that the existing socialization process was gender biased. Speakers said there was a need to ensure that parenting was gender sensitive. The representative of Thailand said material on gender-sensitive parenting was being prepared for parents in her country. It was also underscored that television had a role to play in making the society more gender-sensitive.
Speakers noted that women were not encouraged to enter male-oriented fields, such as engineering. In many cases, job advertisements by prospective employers specifically indicated that they preferred males. To remedy that situation,legislation would have to be promulgated and implemented where it already existed. The work of education went beyond the ministry of education and involved political training, legal education, civil, social and family education. It was stressed that education and training were the most powerful tools in the development of human resources of women. It was also recognized that poverty was the main obstacle to women's education. Concern was expressed that girls were used as domestic auxiliary workers, which had hampered their education.
Responding to comments made by the representatives of member States, Ms. ECCHER said policy formulation should take into account the socio-cultural pressure that was put on women by the family and society. That pressure was most often exerted by mothers and female teachers. Education could prove useful in that regard, as well as in breaking the cycle of poverty, she said. The need for additional resources for education was stressed by her.
Ms. MATVIENKO emphasized that the education of handicapped children needed to be enshrined in legislation and programmes needed to be instituted to that end. Ms. DIALLO said teachers' role was crucial in the success of young girls. If their teachers were not gender-sensitive, girls did not stand a fair chance in their educational development.
Ms. FERREIRO said that country specific solutions had to be found to advance the education and training of women. She stressed the need for a gender policy in development. Women should be guaranteed literacy so that they could defend their rights. In that regard, she stressed the importance of monitoring measures.
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Other Statements
LORRAINE WILLIAMS, President of the Intra-American Commission on Women of the Organization of American States (OAS), said over the last decade major changes, such as globalization and a shift in the world power structure, had occurred. Those developments had impacted the situation of women worldwide. In that context, her organization had developed a plan of action which was centred on the participation and contribution of women in the social, economic, political and legal processes of their countries. It focused, among other things, on the participation of women in the areas of work, education, health and the national machinery. For the next four years, the organization would also concentrate on women in power and decision-making. She urged all governments to work towards improving women's situation in those areas. There was an urgent need to reconceptualize the roles of men and women in the family and society, she said.
LUCY WONG HERNANDEZ, Executive Director of Disabled Peoples' International, also speaking on behalf of the World Blind Union, said accessibility was the first objective of the Platform for Action. Braille and sign language needed to be included in the classroom, and the budget for them made available. The higher cost would bring advancement to society, as well as to women and girls. Rather than women with disabilities being perceived as a double burden to society, their education would allow them to be seen as a double benefit. She said women with disabilities were not effectively represented. She asked member States to answer the question of what were the plans in each country to provide accessibility in education for girls and women with disability.
ZUBEIDA TUMBO-MASABO, of the African Women's NGO Caucus, said the education of women was crucial for their empowerment. She stressed that structural adjustment programmes had negatively affected women. She also drew attention to the fact that a high drop-out rate of girls from schools led to child labour. Gender education should start at pre-school level. To enable that, governments should provide necessary resources and restrict military spending. Moreover, the quality of education in the public sphere should be improved. The education of girls should be free and compulsory, and such education should be free from harassment. She stressed the need for establishing community schools and training teachers to be gender-sensitive. Gender balance should be maintained in appointing high-level management involved in education. In addition, it was important that girls' schools be provided with science equipment and teachers trained in science. Also, educated women should function as role models to girls and even if one educated woman sponsored a needy girl, that would go a long way in furthering the education of women.
HADJA ASSA DIALLO SOUMARE, President of the Committee on Action for the Rights of Children and Women, said the ideas which had led to the 1945 signing
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of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco and the ideas which had led to the women's conferences in Mexico, Copenhagen and Nairobi should be drawn upon. She stressed the importance of consciousness-raising in the empowerment of women and of the importance of educating young girls and rural women. In that regard, access to education and health services was crucial. Education and training were the key to sustainable development, she said, calling for greater equality, justice and peace.
VALERIE EVANS, of the Soroptimist International of the United Kingdom, emphasized that there should be a focus on teacher education, as well as curriculum development. There had been formal teacher education in the United Kingdom for 150 years, she said. What was required in the training of teachers was a gender-perspective training, she added.
AMEL GORANI, Federation of International Immigrant Women Associations of Sweden and the World Federation of United Nations Associations, said discrimination against women and girls was well-documented. In order to counter that, governments should focus specially on young women in their follow-up to the Platform for Action.
MARY PURCELL, of the International Federation of University Women, speaking for the NGO Caucus, said there needed to be greater financial support and collaboration among non-governmental organizations for women's education. She called for more formal partnerships between the academia and non- governmental organizations. She wondered as to how that alignment might be formed. There was an urgent need to motivate young women to continue on to higher education, she said.
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