Forum: The Economic and social council Issue: Promoting Women s and Girl s access to Education, Training, Science and Technology { Student Officer: Tanya Lazarus Position: Deputy
Introduction As our world progresses, gender equality remains to be a problem despite advancements in education and technology. Although more women have been able to enter the labor sector in the last decade, women remain to be paid less and are represented mostly in the low paying jobs with bad working conditions. This is due to the fact that they do not have access to education and training like men do and hence are judged and placed into jobs on a different basis than men. Even though primary school enrollments continue to increase, drop out rates after primary are still quite high. Furthermore many government schools do not give access to internet or technology to their students giving them less opportunities to work in the modern and technology based world.
Key Terms Defined 1. Empowerment: the action of enhancing one s capacity to give them more choices which can then be put into action 2. Millennium Development Goals (MGDs): A set of eight international goals set up by the UN to achieve by 2015 3. Informal Sector: Jobs which do not pay tax. The term is used to describe illegal activity and can refer to a situation where someone is forced into work for no pay 4. Poverty cycle: A continuous cycle where poverty remains from generation to generation. 5. Education: The process of receiving information and instruction to further your learning 6. Training: this refers to preparation and often further education in the workplace to learn skills that are needed in your place of employment
Key Terms Defined Gender Norms: Gender Norms are preconceived ideas of how each gender should act and be according to culture and religion and often result in gender stereotypes. Gender Balance: A situation where there are equal number of people from each gender present to represent.
History The lack of access to technology, science and education for women originates from the problem of gender equality which has been around as long as man can remember. This is due to many biological and religious reasons. As human beings, our inherent desire is to reproduce in order to survive. Due to the capabilities of women to reproduce, they become valuable. However since they are vulnerable in their state of pregnancy, child birth and caring for the child, they stayed at home rather than hunt like the men. Even with modern technologies and a right of a women to choose to have children or not, in many countries women are still expected to stay at home to clean, cook and care for offspring rather than go to study or work. In this time men were able to develop technologies, culture and politics. Over time it has become the norm that men then have control over what they have made while women are know solely for their reproductive capabilities.
History continued Due to this belief, many women are now segregated into less skilled jobs. So even if they have access to education and are able to get a job, they will be placed in jobs needing a lower skill set and no training. This then results in low pay. For example women are more likely to get jobs in the education or administrative sector in comparison to men who are more likely to be in senior positions which have higher pay in the business or law sector.
Key Issues If women are not allowed access to education or training they grow up to have no skill set and hence can have no jobs or low paying jobs. The low level of education and awareness leads them to have no idea as to what family planning is. When they do have children, they find themselves in a situation where they can t provide for them due to their low paying jobs. This lack of provisions and often education can carry on the cycle of poverty. Gender equality is a large step towards eradicating poverty. Furthermore starving women of opportunities towards technology and science can put them at a large disadvantage in our modern world. For example even when it comes to the agricultural sector fertilizers and modern tools are being used to farm and without such resources, these women can t create a livelihood for themselves even in the agricultural sector which then also links back to the poverty cycle.
General overview/ UN perspective The United Nations (UN) have adopted many a resolutions to grant access to women to technology, science, training and education. The Universal declaration of Human Rights states that all human beings are born free and equal. One of the millennium goals strives towards gender equality and women empowerment Following the human right and the millennium goal, the UN believe that both women and men should have equal access to opportunities. They strongly affirm equality in access to education, technology, training and science to both genders will develop a country through higher skilled people with the ability to do better paying jobs which there by improves the economy and addresses problems such as unemployment and poverty.
Major Parties Involved and Their View United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) The UNDP is an organization under the UN that works in near 170 countries in order to help them sustain change in order to better their development. On the issue of empowerment of women, they believe women can play a large role in the development of the world as a whole. They think political parties in countries have the most impact on the issue and are hence saddened by the fact that only 20% of the entire world s parliamentary seats are filled by women. They have created a guide book Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Good Practices Guide to Promote Women s Political Participation which highlights what political parties should do. Such guides strongly emphasize the need for training of women to take more roles in political parties.
National Democratic Institute (NDI) The NDI is a non-profit organization working since 1983 towards enhancing transparency between the people and their government. They have worked closely with the UNDP to add to the book guiding political parties on how women can enter the governmental positions in a country. Therefore they are strong supporters in the access to education and training for women in order to ready themselves to be leaders and voices in higher positions in a government. They believe that without a women voicing concerns about lack of access to education, training, technology and science, there will be no development in the issue because the political parties in countries hold a great deal of power in changing and improving the situation of gender inequality.
UN Women The UN women is a large organization working to promote women's rights. Under UN women, there is the Division of Advancement women (DAW) who work with the Department of Political Affairs to create peace agreements in order to empower women. They believe the political parties and governments in each country have a duty to support and allow their women to have equality. Second is the UN Institutional Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). INSTRAW is an research oriented organization who research about training and knowledge management of women empowerment and with that data help governments to promote security for women, economic and social development for women in a society and to make sure all rights are fulfilled for women including the right of women to enter politics.
The Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender issues and the Advancement of Women (OSAGI) OSAGI is an organization which specializes in advising the Secretary General on the problems facing our world in regard to gender equality and women empowerment. They then monitor and assist in making policies both within the UN and in other countries to improve the situation of women around the world. One of their main goals is to give women equal opportunities in the working environment. This includes access to equal education and training for a certain job.
Timeline of Events 1985 The Third UN Women s Conference in Nairobi During conference, important linkages were made between gender equality and development. They established that giving women equal changes was the best chance for our world to become sustainably developed. The Senior Women Advisors Group (SWAG) was created to make sure the perspective and importance of women in development was upheld in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This organization refers to all environments including government and women s environment in addition to our natural environment. 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference for Women in Beijing Women are identified as crucial to building a future that is sustainable and ecological.
2000 Millennium Summit During this summit it is declared that one of the main goals in our society will be to promote gender equality. They also agreed that women empowerment in ways such as giving them opportunities to education, training, science and technology will help in the eradication of poverty and building a sustainable future. 2002 ECOSOC passes a resolution on the proposals for a multi-year programme of work for the commission on the status of Women This resolution implores parties to follow the multi-year programme which promotes revision of our gender inequality problems and strategic action to be taken on these issues. The plan also encourage communication between parties about gender inequality problems and solutions.
UN documents, resolutions and treaties 24 th of July 2009 ECOSOC pass a resolution Agreeing on access and participation of women and girls in education, training and science and technology. This include equality in the workspace between men and women. March 2014 ECOSOC declares the challenges in implementing the Millennium goal of women empowerment globally. December 2013 ECOSOC summary to the Secretary General (SG) on the women s situation in Palestine December 2013 ECOSOC report on how inadequate education and training can be a leading cause of maternal mortality.
Evaluation on past solutions Many organizations including the UN have attempted to work alongside governments to establish women empowerment in ways such as education and training as a large focus. However, due to different ideologies in places such as the Middle East especially when it comes to religions and beliefs, girls don t have an important role in society and governments have refused to comply. Some organization and independent NGOs have not been able to carry on their efforts in trying to provide technology, education, science and training into local communities in poorer sectors around the world because they do not receive adequate funding. For example many small NGOs in Bintan.
Possible solutions Microfinance/ microcredit for women in developing countries to get an opportunity at education, training and in the future science and technology without having to rely upon the government. This can be to begin a business to earn money to get more education or training or simply for a girl to go to school till at least the primary level. Get women a voice in a society and government to set a standard and to begin the movement towards more access for education, technology, training and science for women. Make sure a girl is in school until at least 16 in all member states to get a primary education as well as some secondary education.
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