Educating Girls: What Works

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Subject: Educating Girls: What Works

Educating Girls: What Works

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By Dr. Barbara Herz

Dr. Barbara Herz is a specialist in girls' education policy. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Herz has worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Bank. At the World Bank, Herz started the Women in Development Division and led the bank's work on education and health in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The Benefits of Girls' Education ( #benefitstext )

Where Girls are Out of School ( #wheretext )

What Hinders Girls' Education ( #hinderstext )

What Works ( #workstext )

THE BENEFITS OF GIRLS' EDUCATION ( #benefitsheader )

The benefits of educating girls - to countries, to families and to girls themselves - are so substantial that some economists, including Lawrence Summers, a former Harvard University president and former director of President Obama's National Economic Council, have stated that educating girls may be the single highest return investment available in the developing world.[1] ( #Note1 ) Educating girls not only stimulates economic growth, it improves the well-being of women and gives them more agency in their communities and countries.[2] ( #Note2 )

What are some of the benefits?

. Higher incomes: World Bank studies find that, on the whole, one more year of primary education beyond the mean boosts a person's eventual wage rate on average by 5 percent to 15 percent, with generally higher returns for girls than for boys.[3] ( #Note3 ) One more year of secondary school beyond the mean boosts a person's eventual wage rate on average by 15 percent to 25 percent, again with a generally higher increase for girls than for boys.[4] ( #Note4 )

. Faster economic growth: Education for men or women generally leads to economic growth.[5] ( #Note5 ) Increasing the number of women with secondary education boosts per capita income growth, as does moving toward parity in the number of years of education for girls and boys.[6] ( #Note6 )

. Food Security: A 63-country study by the International Food Policy Research Institute found that expanded female education resulted in better farming practices, which contributed to about 40 percent of the decline in malnutrition from 1970 to 1995.[7] ( #Note7 )

. Family well-being: Educating girls is the surest path to smaller, healthier and better-educated families. Women spend more time than men do in caring for children. Studies find that resources that women control go more directly to help the family than do the resources that men control. The more education a woman has, the more likely it is she can earn a higher income, which will go to benefit her family. In addition, when women are educated they and their husbands tend to want smaller families and to invest more in the health and education of each child.

-- In countries where three-fourths of women have a secondary education, women typically have two or three children, the children are more likely to attend school and child mortality drops as family income rises.[8] ( #Note8 )
-- According to many studies, a year of schooling for the mother beyond the average in her country cuts infant mortality by 5 percent to 10 percent.[9] ( #Note9 )
-- Where mothers are educated, girls and boys generally go to school longer and study more. Often the mother's education matters more than the father's, especially in countries where the gap in schooling between girls and boys is greatest.[10] ( #Note10 )

-- Girls who are literate, and particularly girls who reach secondary school, are more likely to avoid HIV/AIDS because they can better obtain information, stand up for themselves and take more control of their lives.[11] ( #Note11 )
-- Having smaller, healthier and better educated families in turn helps raise economic productivity, equips people to enter new lines of work, eases environmental pressures and slows population growth, which many countries consider important changes.[12] ( #Note12 )

. Women's own well-being: As Nobel laureate Amartya Sen stresses, when women are educated they gain voice and agency in their lives, giving them more economic opportunities, encouraging women's political participation, and transforming society for the better.[13] ( #Note13 )

These benefits begin sooner than may appear at first glance. Keeping girls in school through 10th-12th grade quickly produces positive changes. These girls do not marry young; they can cope better in the 21st century, help their families, and take better advantage of new opportunities as economic and social circumstances change.

The virtuous circle: The benefits of educating girls start with primary school but rise if girls go to secondary school. As a first step, many countries are striving for universal primary education (UPE), which is one of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals along with gender equality. Much progress has been made, but the time has come to press equally for secondary education for girls and boys.

In fact, doing so will help achieve UPE. When secondary education for girls spreads, they can go on to earn higher incomes, assume roles outside of the home or farm and reach parity with boys. Educating greater numbers of women and girls also helps meet the growing need for teachers and health workers, which is crucial for societies in which women and girls must be served by women teachers or doctors.

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IREX Gender Survey-Response requested

Many thanks to all of you who have already responded to the survey!

To those who have yet to respond, let your voices be heard! We have more female responses than male ones right now, so men of IREX, don’t be left out!

Please take five/ten minutes to fill out the survey by Friday, July 8th, COB.

Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Gender Community of Practice

Dear colleagues:

The Gender Community of Practice is designing a gender training that will be delivered to all of IREX. In order to shape the training to make it more relevant to your work, we would appreciate it if you could take 5-10 minutes to complete this short  anonymous survey.

 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SWHGJGQ 

Please complete by 5pm (DC time) on Friday, July 8.

We look forward to your responses!

Thank you!

Regards, 

Gender Community of Practice

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NIGERIA: Access to the Internet Is Access to Life

NIGERIA: Access to the Internet Is Access to Life

Through her own empowerment story, counselor and social entrepreneur Obisakin Christianah Busayo illustrates the impact of women's Internet access in her country.

I earned my master’s degree in 2002. But as far as the Internet and Web 2.0 were concerned, I remained illiterate until 2009, when I took out a loan for a laptop and got my office connected. For years I had a vision to empower the women in my community, but I did not know how to go about it.

The first thing I did on my new computer was to go to Google to search for women’s organizations around the world. I found the Association of Women in Development (AWID), which led me to World Pulse’s Voices of Our Future Program. During this program, I learned about journalism, as well as how to access email, how to attach documents, and how to blog and chat online.

It is unaffordable for an average civil servant in Nigeria to own her own personal modem, which discourages many people—especially women—from accessing the Internet. Last month I was giving a training workshop to a group of teachers. There were 50 participants: 37 women and 13 men. When I asked how many of them had some knowledge of computers or the Internet, no matter how small, no one in the class came forward. Do not be surprised that these computer novices were all university graduates.

In Nigeria there are many obstacles to Internet access. Electricity is inconsistent. Whenever the lights go off, Internet in the office automatically goes off. To write my first stories as a citizen journalist, I had to go to a public cybercafé with a standby generator.

Public cybercafés have their own serious problems. There are very few of them, and they are always congested and taken over by the “yahoo boys” (boys who engage in Internet scams and sometimes target women for violence). Whenever I went to the café, my husband had to follow me as my bodyguard and stay with me to protect me from being attacked.

In another survey of 250 Nigerian women I carried out recently, less than 15% had some knowledge of the Internet, and only about 5% actually had access to the Internet. This has inspired my vision to create a “women only” cybercafé in every state in Nigeria. My dream is to provide a safe place for women to access the Internet without fear of attack or being molested. Cybercafés could become Internet training grounds for women to raise their voices on issues that concern them and mount pressure on governments when their rights are being trampled on.

I have only been online for two years, but it has already led to many opportunities. I applied for and won a training at the Empowerment Institute in New York. I traveled out of my country and flew on a plane for the first time. I made connections that led me to become program manager for the Empowerment Institute’s Imagine program in Nigeria. I am now a reporter, photo journalist, and climate journalist. Several of my articles have been published by the Global Press Institute. I registered my Women Inspiration Development Center, where we have helped several domestic violence survivors and are currently handling a case of child rape. We have organized workshops for 150 women on “creating your life the way you want it.” This is just the beginning. Since accessing the Internet, the vision I have been carrying around for years is finally becoming a reality.

About Universal Internet Access

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This article was written as part of a World Pulse action blogging campaign encouraging policymakers and international human rights bodies to address issues of universal Internet access and digital freedom. PulseWire members from all over the world have chimed in with personal testimonies addressing the question, "What does 'Universal Internet Access and Digital Freedom' mean to you?"

Join us! 7/13 African Women Leaders: Promoting Investment, Trade and Peace

From: Women's Foreign Policy Group [mailto:wfpg@cc.memberclicks.com] On Behalf Of Women's Foreign Policy Group
Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 11:56 AM
To: Nicole Mechem
Subject: Join us! 7/13 African Women Leaders: Promoting Investment, Trade and Peace

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— Embassy Series —

A reception and program hosted by Ambassador Siwela of Zambia to recognize women ambassadors from Africa. Ambassador Siwela will be joined by her colleagues for a discussion following her remarks.


African Women Leaders
Their Role in Promoting Investment, Trade and Peace

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Over one third of the women ambassadors to the US represent African countries, more than any other region. Women ambassadors in Washington, DC include: African Union, Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia, and the Chargé d’Affaires of Madagascar.

H.E. Sheila Siwela was appointed to be the Ambassador of the Republic of Zambia to the US in June 2010. In this position, she is also responsible for Mexico, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, the World Bank and the IMF. Ambassador Siwela previously served in Belgium as Ambassador to Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, EU, OPCW, and ICC; as Ambassador to Zimbabwe; and as Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria. A specialist in gender issues and leadership skills, she is the Founder and Lead Consultant of the Motivational Centre for Africa’s Transformation and was Programme Manager of the Peak Performance Programme under UNDP/ILO and the Government of Zambia. She is also a published author and has sat on numerous boards including YMCA in Zambia, Zambia and the Gender Advisory Group, and COMESA.


Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 6 p.m.
Reception and Program

Embassy of Zambia
2419 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC

Space is limited. Advance registration is required.

WFPG Members— $35      Non-Members— $50

Event proceeds will be used to support our mentoring programs.
Checks should be made payable to: WFPG, 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 720, Washington, DC 20009. Cancellations must be made 2 business days in advance to receive a refund. Please direct any questions to (202) 884-8597 or programs@wfpg.org.

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Come join me at SID-W Gender in Development Workgroup Event on SID-Washington Gender in Development Workgroup

FYI.

Allison Strype

Civil Society

IREX

2121 K Street NW, 7th Fl.

Washington, DC 20037

Email: astrype@irex.org

Phone: 202-628-8188  x. 127

Skype: allison.strype

From: Janel Hoppes Poche [mailto:events@sidwgid.ning.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 12:03 PM
To: Allison Strype
Subject: Come join me at SID-W Gender in Development Workgroup Event on SID-Washington Gender in Development Workgroup

Janel Hoppes…

Janel Hoppes Poche

Janel Hoppes Poche has invited you to the event 'SID-W Gender in Development Workgroup Event' on SID-Washington Gender in Development Workgroup!

Please join us at our next SID-W Gender in Development (SID/GID) Workgroup Event.
Thanks,
Janel Hoppes Poche - Co-Chair of the SID/GID Workgroup

SID-W Gender in Development Workgroup Event

Time: July 14, 2011 from 3pm to 4:30pm
Location: The QED Group, LLC
Organized By: Janel Hoppes Poche, Fiona McDowell & Sharon Williams

Event Description:
A Dialogue with USAID's Leaders on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
USAID is committed to providing development assistance that improves the lives of women, men and children around the world. USAID has a special interest in the advancement of women worldwide and is working to improve women's equality and empowerment. Not only because it is just, but because it is necessary for successful development. It is important to engage the untapped energies and abilities of people, especially poor women, if lasting progress is to be made. Development assistance providers must recognize the pervasive additional obstacles that poor women face and give serious attention to those impediments as road blocks not only to women but also to effective national development.
On April 26th, USAID Administrator Raj Shah announced the creation of a new Office on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment for the Agency. Please join us to hear about plans for the Office and progress on development of USAID's new gender policy.
Presenters:

Carla Koppell, Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, Office of the Deputy Administrator, USAID
Caren Grown, Senior Gender Advisor, Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning, USAID

This event is co-sponsored by Development & Training Services (dTS) and Juárez & Associates (J&A).
To register for this event: RSVP for the Gender in Development Workgroup Event, July 14, 2011

See more details and RSVP on SID-Washington Gender in Development Workgroup:

http://sidwgid.ning.com/events/event/show?id=6320761%3AEvent%3A4001&xgi=3qYSnKkupORldQ&xg_source=msg_invite_event

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Check out "Sexual Violence against Boys and Men" on Peace and Collaborative Development Network

From: Craig Zelizer [mailto:share@internationalpeaceandconflict.org]
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 12:41 PM
To: Nicole Mechem
Subject: Check out "Sexual Violence against Boys and Men" on Peace and Collaborative Development Network

Building Bridges, Networks and Expertise Across Sectors

Craig Zelizer

Craig Zelizer

Check out the discussion 'Sexual Violence against Boys and Men'

Discussion posted by Catherine Akurut:


For many, sexual violence perpetrated against boys and men is impossible. On the contrary, it does exist in our societies although most of...

Discussion link:

Sexual Violence against Boys and Men

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The world's five most dangerous countries for women

The world’s five most dangerous countries for women

Report: http://www.trust.org/documents/womens-rights/resources/2011WomenPollResults.pdf

The five most dangerous countries for women

1)    Afghanistan

2)    Democratic Republic of Congo

3)    Pakistan

4)    India

5)    Somalia

Highest-ranked countries for each risk factor

·         Health                                     Afghanistan

·         Economic / Discrimination  Afghanistan

·         Cultural/tribal/religious        Pakistan

·         Sexual violence                     Congo

·         Non-sexual violence             Afghanistan

·         Trafficking                             India

Afghanistan Most Dangerous Country for Women, Survey Finds

A survey of more than two hundred gender experts conducted by TrustLaw, a legal news service run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, has found that Afghanistan is the most dangerous country in the world for women, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, India, and Somalia.

Survey participants were asked to consider several specific risk factors, including health threats, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural and religious considerations, access to resources, sex trafficking, and overall level of danger for women. Poll respondents included aid professionals, academics, health workers, policy makers, journalists, and development specialists.

According to The World's Five Most Dangerous Countries for Women (14 pages, PDF), Afghanistan was the most dangerous country for women overall as well as in terms of non-sexual violence, health, and lack of access to economic resources. The Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 400,000 women are raped every year, ranked second, while Pakistan ranked third on the basis of cultural, tribal, and religious practices such as honor killings, forced marriage, and physical abuse. India's inclusion is primarily a result of trafficking, sex slavery, and high levels of female foeticide and infanticide. In Somalia, women must contend with a range of threats, including high maternal mortality rates, sexual violence, and limited access to education, healthcare, and economic resources.

"Ongoing conflict, NATO airstrikes, and cultural practices combined make Afghanistan a very dangerous place for women," said Antonella Notari, director of WomenChangeMakers, a global fellowship program that identifies, supports, and connects female social entrepreneurs to education, health care, and economic and political opportunities. "In addition, women who do attempt to speak out or take on public roles that challenge ingrained gender stereotypes of what's acceptable for women to do or not, such as working as policewomen or news broadcasters, are often intimidated or killed."

Anderson, Lisa. “TrustLaw Poll - Afghanistan Is Most Dangerous Country for Women.” TrustLaw Press Release 6/15/11.

Democracy that Delivers for Women: Register Now

Hi All,

A friend of mine works at CIPE and thought that the conference next week might be of interest to IREXers.

Emmy

Democracy that Delivers
for Women

International Women's Conference

June 20 & 21, 2011

Ronald Reagan Building and
International Trade Center

in Washington, DC

For more information, please visit
www.democracythatdelivers.com
.

View the Working Conference Agenda.

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Using Community Theatre to Address Gender Violence in Kyrgyzstan

Using Community Theatre to Address Gender Violence in Kyrgyzstan

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — In June 2010, southern Kyrgyzstan was ravaged by inter-ethnic clashes that devastated communities throughout the region. During the course of a few weeks, hundreds of houses were burnt, public facilities were destroyed, thousands were injured and more than 300,000 people were displaced – most of whom were children and women. Several cases of gender-based violence were reported, including allegations of rape and other forms of sexual violence.

A year after the conflict that devastated communities in southern Kyrgyzstan, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, continues to work with communities to strengthen community resilience to violence. UNFPA has intensified its violence-prevention efforts to address the root causes of gender-based violence, such as existing gender inequalities and the low status of women, among other socio-economic factors.

In May 2011, UNFPA brought together 15 leaders and activists of youth and women’s groups to learn how to use theatre to mobilize communities and enable discussions of gender-based violence, peace-building and other sensitive issues. During the course of three weeks, UNFPA organized a six-day training of trainers, five community workshops and three participatory performances which included one hundred and sixty people from different communities in the region. The workshops built on participants’ knowledge and experiences and the performances were highly interactive, with audience members invited to participate in the performance.

“Community-based theatre is quite different from conventional theatre” says Hjalmar Jorge Joffre-Eichhorn, the international expert who facilitated the workshop. “Community-based theatre aims to put theatre at the service of ordinary people who want to discuss sensitive community issues and identify bottom-up, grassroots solutions.”
A performance took place at a local university in the city of Osh, one of the cities most affected by the violence last year. More than fifty people, including widows participated in the performance. Many audience members joined the actors on stage to share their ideas and thoughts. “Others spoke from their seats - some of them quite passionately,” added Joffre-Eichhorn.

In recent years, UNFPA in Armenia has also successfully used theatre as means to convey important messages about social issues and encourage dialogue within communities. UNFPA will continue throughout the year to facilitate theatre performances on gender-based violence prevention, including domestic violence, within southern Kyrgyzstan.

UN team joined voices with Women's Parliament to discuss gender issues Azerbaijan

UN team joined voices with Women’s Parliament to discuss gender issues Azerbaijan

May 16, 2011

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To discuss existing gender issues and to demonstrate solidarity with women working for women, the United Nations office (UNO) in Baku, the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) conducted an information session with the Women’s Parliament using the slogan “Equality is Justice: Equality for Women” - led by the Women’s Association for Rational Development (WARD).

The session brought together women from academia, media, business, NGO environment, as well as from international donor organizations not only from the capital but also from the regions of the country. The purpose of the session was to unite the members of the women’s parliament and to have “person-to-person” contact and to stimulate a public debate on erasing gender inequality as a “state of mind” and promoting  gender equality as an integral part of human rights.

The movie “UN-it is your world” and a video about the UN Information Centres’ activities were screened at the event which comprehensively displayed the scope of impact of the UN’s and UNIC’s work in particular around the world. UN DPI Representative Ms. Envera Selimovic expressed how pleased she was with the establishment of the women’s parliament in Azerbaijan and stressed that the meeting should concentrate on working out unique strategies to build a gender-sensitive society in Azerbaijan.

Afterwards, Ms. Selimovic gave presentation about the United Nations Information Centers’ (UNICs) work and the department’s previous experience in the area of human rights and gender equality.  “DPI produces and disseminates the United Nations news and messages to the media and to the community and it is our pleasure to have you today for conveying the UN’s messages on gender issues, since achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is one of the MDGs to be achieved by 2015”, Ms. Selimovic added.

Ms. Selimovic also gave comprehensive information about the recently established “UN Women” as a United Nations’ unique entity for ensuring gender equality and promoting women’s empowerment. She called upon the media representatives to strive for better imaging of women in the media, since the mass media is a major influence on stereotypes about the roles and images of women. At the end of her presentation, Ms. Selimovic again reiterated the readiness of the UN DPI Office to further participate in such sessions and provide women with as much information/tools as possible to enhance their ability in raising awareness about women issues.

As a follow-up of the talk about UN’s work in general, Ms. Irada Ahmedova, Coordination Analyst of the Resident Coordinator’s Office, gave a lively presentation about the UN’s activity in Azerbaijan with enthusiastic participation by the audience that put questions and comments to Ms. Ahmedova. She described the UN structures in Azerbaijan from the first agency established in 1992 to the current 17 agencies. “If we analyze the UN’s contribution to the country, initially the UN focused on emergency relief whereas, nowadays, UN is closely engaged in working out economic and social development programs. This fact is an indicator of the country’s development and that the country has overcome the difficult periods of humanitarian crisis”,Ms. Ahmedova stated.

In her concluding statement Ms. Shahla Ismayil, the founder and owner of the WARD, who takes huge pride in her NGO and overall work on women’s issues, expressed her gratitude to the UN team for coming and cheering up the women who have started their new “trip” for the sake of gender equality and better life for women.

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