day 28 - a couple of microfinance videos

We discussed microfinance and its impact on women earlier in the project. Even more than creating income, a microfinance business can help a woman to become an economic, as well as political and social leader, within her village. I’d like to share two videos with you highlighting microfinance: the first is from the Kiva Microfund Organization; the second is from the Grameen Bank, the organization established by the winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize, Muhammad Yunus:

As you can see, a small donation can help start a sustainable business for a woman in a developing nation. Women can learn how to run a business with an education; furthermore, with additional income, a woman can send her children to school and create a cycle of education and income.

Janna

day 27 - gender equality: closer through education

I’m sorry I haven’t updated in the past few days… I’ve had a lot going on with papers for school and hearing back from colleges. I’m trying to catch up on the blog, so this will be the post for Tuesday. Thank you for your patience! :)

I’d like to discuss gender equality – or lack thereof – in developing nations. Let’s look at some statistics from the World Bank and consider their implication for women:

• “Nearly 4 million women go ‘missing’ each year in developing countries.”

Missing? That seems a bit drastic, no? But this is a real phenomenon in developing nations. Consider: According to the World Bank, “2/5 of girls are never born due to a preference for sons”. Add to that the number of girls who may die of preventable childhood illnesses because her value is less than a family is willing to afford to pay to see a doctor. Add to that the number of women that are trafficked and disappear from their village, or women who die in childbirth. The number is astounding. True, some countries that are engaged in civil conflict see an excess of females because men are dying in war. But the overwhelming statistic is that women are unaccounted for, and simply disappear.

• “Women are responsible for 60 to 80 percent of all house and care work.”

Women’s roles are set, are ingrained as tradition in many developing nations: the more masculine tasks are assigned to the males, and the traditional “female” tasks are assigned to the women. I know this sounds obvious, but let’s consider something: If a woman is confined to her home to prepare meals, to care for children, and to do tasks such as laundry, there is very little time when she is outside of the house. Add societal restraints that prevent women from leaving the home, and this confines her even more so.

The implications to this statistic are that, by being automatically relegated to perform these tasks, women face a far greater disadvantage than simply “not sharing the housework”. If a woman is home almost all of the time, there is no time – nor opportunity – for her to participate in local government systems. Her voice is not heard, and thus, she is not represented.  She is unable to own or manage land, or become a strong economic presence by selling goods in the marketplace.

Let’s look at a more positive statistic:

  

• According to the World Bank, “Since 1999, South Asia has decreased its total number of out-of-school females from 23 million to 9.5 million.  This 59% decrease shows steady progress towards achieving more equitable access to education. Sub Saharan Africa has also decreased its total by 30% from 24.8 million out-of-school girls in 1999 to 17.3 million in 2008.”

Though girls (especially in the aforementioned regions) still tend to have less access to education than boys do, this is a great step towards improving gender equality. Progress is indeed possible; and we can help improve gender equality worldwide by supporting women’s education.

With an education, women obtain opportunities to further promote gender equality, such as owning a business, participating in representative government, and acting as important advocates for social issues. Equality is still a major issue, but certainly one on which we're making progress.

Janna

day 26 - cost-benefit analysis

Here is a small breakdown of costs for women’s education (Camfed.org):

$25 – One year of primary school education

$25 – Pair of shoes so a child can walk to school

$40 – Cost of a uniform to attend school

$300 – One year of secondary school education

Multiply this by the United Nations estimate of 35 million girls worldwide that are not in school, and the total costs seem far more than we could even hope to afford.

But despite the expense, we must look at the cost of not offering an education. Consider: According to the Government Accountability Office, the United States spends $3.3 billion on HIV/AIDS relief aid in foreign countries. , and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/) has spent $22.6 billion in relief to date. This is an impressive sum, and relief organizations should be lauded for their commitment to eradicating these diseases in developing nations. But unless relief truly targets the roots of the problem, aid may be simply a temporary relief, used to put out metaphorical fires instead of preventing them.

As discussed yesterday, an educated woman is three times less likely to acquire HIV/AIDS in her lifetime, and is more likely to recognize the positive impact of health services, such as vaccinations, for her family. Therefore, an educated woman will be less likely to need emergency aid – such as HIV antiviral medicine or malaria antibiotics – because her education will already have awakened her to the positive impact of prevention. If funds were spent educating women at the first step – that of grassroots levels – relief funds might not be required in such large amounts to respond, ex post facto, to these problems.

A frequent government budget question is: Can we really afford to educate women?

My question is: Can we really afford not to?

Janna

day 25 - the connection between education and health

Core subjects at my school: math, English, science, history, foreign language. But an education isn’t restricted to these subjects. A secondary aspect of educating women in developing nations is how their education will positively impact other areas of their lives - of these, perhaps the most notable is the effect of an education on women’s health.

According to the United Nations Population Fund and the Global Campaign for Education, “Schools can be a primary source of information about prevention methods in the fight against HIV. New analysis by the Global Campaign for Education suggests that if all children received a complete primary education, the economic impact of HIV/AIDS could be greatly reduced and around 700,000 cases of HIV in young adults could be prevented each year—seven million in a decade.”

We also see two distinct possible scenarios: the first, the effect of HIV/AIDS on education; the second, the effect of education on HIV/AIDS prevention. Consider: “Children in families affected by AIDS are more likely than others to be taken out of school. Illness prevents family members from earning an income. Girls are also more likely than boys to leave school to care for family members who are ill or to support siblings when parents die of AIDS” (Global Coalition on Women and AIDS).

But with an education, people are more likely to delay sexual activity and to know prevention methods. The Campaign for Female Education estimates that an educated woman will be three times less likely to acquire HIV/AIDS in her lifetime. She also earns an average 25% more income, which may be used to provide her children with an education. In turn, with an education, her children are less likely to acquire HIV/AIDS and also provide education for their own children.

Educated women are more likely to recognize the impact of, and seek, health services (such as vaccinations) for their children, reducing the risk of their children dying of preventable diseases. Women with an education are also more likely to oppose the practice of female genital mutilation (FGB), a traditional practice to preserve a girl’s virginity until marriage. (United Nations Population Fund)

With an education, a girl can learn to read, a skill for the rest of her life. She can learn how to do math, and maybe even start her own microfinance business. But the positive effects of women’s education spread far beyond the reach of a schoolhouse: Education improves the health of women and their families, and perpetuates a cycle of education and health in future generations.

Janna

day 24 - on empowerment

I’m involved with music and violin, and usually do a couple of auditions and competitions each year. I used to get really nervous to the point where I would start to shake – not exactly the best for violin. But before one of these auditions last year, my friend told me to just be fearless.

Be fearless.

Such a simple statement, and yet it really resonated with me. I thought about those words. What did I have to be afraid of? The opportunity was there. There was nothing to lose, but everything to gain.

Fearless. Such are the words to describe women’s empowerment in developing nations. Women have the potential to do anything – improve their family’s health, create a business, enact social change – if only they are given the opportunity. Education can give women this opportunity by teaching them business or vocational skills (such as weaving or embroidery) to earn a living. And by simply giving girls an education, we are taking an important step towards gender equality: by providing an education regardless of gender, not only are women recognized as important contributors to society and politics, but also, in the words of the United Nations, “free and equal in dignity and rights”.

Please read this Camfed case study about women’s potential and empowerment:

Cindy was born into a wealthy family, but by the time she was four, her parents had both died of AIDS. She moved from one extended family member’s house to another, forced to do household chores instead of attending school. “One day, I worried that this would just go on and on. I wanted to go back to school,” she says. So she left, and went to live with another aunt, who supported her dreams of getting an education. Then Camfed began supporting her. Now Cindy is nearly at the top of her high school class, and she hopes to become Zambia’s chief justice one day. “I want to provide justice for all,” she says.“It is not the end of the world to be an orphan,” she says. “It will not be the end of me. I’m a girl who has seen lots of things, and I haven’t lost my determination.”

By providing women with an education, there is nothing to lose – and everything to gain. Educated and empowered women recognize their potential. They are confident. They are the catalysts, not only to social change, but to changing the world. Please consider making a charitable donation to help empower women in rural Africa through education.

“Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” -Marianne Williamson

“If I only get the chance, I will do something great." -Campaign for Female Education

Janna

day 23 - United Nations Declaration of Rights

In my Spanish class at school, we’ve been reading the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Among those outlined are the rights to life, liberty, and security of person, equal protection of the law, and the right to an education. (You can read the Declaration here.)

But unfortunately, a fair number of these civil liberties are not observed in other countries, especially with regard to women. Let’s look at some of the rights in the Declaration:

Article 3

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

As discussed earlier this month, sex trafficking and forced prostitution is modern-day slavery. Yet we still permit slavery to continue. Women are denied the human right to live without being enslaved. And forced labor (for both genders) still exists: Check out the CNN Freedom Project here.

Article 7

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

According to the United Nations Rule of Law discussion on gender equality, there remain countries that discriminate against women, prohibiting them from testifying in court. Not only is this a violation of a basic human right to justice; it undermines the entire justice system, essentially giving males more credibility in court. Think about it: A woman may not even have the right to give her testimony of a crime committed against her. How is this, in any sense, “justice”?

Article 17

(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Women are often denied the right to own property. The New York Times estimates that only 1% of women worldwide own property. This number seems somewhat backward: in some agrarian societies, according to the World Economic Forum, women may produce between 70% of agriculture and 90% of food, yet they are not given the right to own the land on which they work. A UN report attributes this phenomenon in part to the passing of land ownership to male relatives, not to his wife, when a landowning man dies. The woman may then be forced off of her husband’s land to seek work and shelter elsewhere, often without access to sanitation and income as she had prior (United Nations – Women’s Property rights).

Article 21

Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. 

Political participation is a good indicator of the health of a country’s rights for women. Those countries that have greater female participation may have more representation as well. However, sometimes these percentages of female participation are only used as quotas, a figurehead of sorts: Women may be relegated from more serious issues to those deemed less-important or more female issues (Parlimentarians for Conflict Prevention, East-West Institute). Half the Sky suggests that there is even a correlation between countries with especially low female participation in government, and the high level of terrorism in those countries due to largely male-controlled government systems.

Article 25

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Developing nations face a high level of maternal morbidity, or injuries sustained in childbirth (Half the Sky). In Africa, one of these injuries, called obstetric fistula, is especially common, resulting from the tearing of the bladder or bowels during childbirth. Without control of these organs, women suffering from fistulas drip these excretory wastes constantly, and face ostracism from their families and from society. This is certainly a “circumstance beyond her control”; yet women suffering from fistula and that cannot afford surgery may be forced out of their homes, lacking “adequate living for health and well being”, as well as “medical care in the event of disability”.

Article 26 (This is a big one for this project!)

Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

“Everyone has the right to an education”, regardless of gender. Girls have as much a right to an education as much as boys do.  “Education shall be free”, guaranteeing children from the poorest areas the same right to an education. And “education shall be compulsory” – not dependent on whether a family determines whether or not their child should go to school or stay home to work. I understand that there are social factors that would necessitate a child’s staying home to earn money to help their family, but I support the idea of free education to make it more accessible for all students.

Article 29

Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

In countries that choose not to allow the education of half their population, the “free and full development” of women is not possible. By recognizing women through education, we can recognize – and encourage – their empowerment and their contributions to society.

And the most basic aspect of the Declaration:

Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Women and men are born free and equal. Let us recognize this statement, not in theory, but in reality.

By providing a woman with an education, we are promoting gender equality: whether it may be in government representation, health, or simply in basic rights. And through the education of a woman, we are closer to realizing that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”.

Janna

day 22 - camfed case study: "ripple effect"

In this Camfed case study, we see  how educated girls may return to their communities to improve them – whether it may be improvement in education, health, the economy, or gender equality. In this way, an education truly has a “ripple effect”, spreading to generations beyond the individual girl.

When Katumi was still in primary school (in Tamale, Ghana), her parents separated, and her mother, who was uneducated, found herself unable to look after her four daughters on her own.  

Katumi went to live with her aunt but she had to work to support herself. Every day after school she went to the market, where women vendors gave her a portion of their produce to sell. “The money I was earning was never enough,” she says. “I couldn’t afford a school uniform so my friends gave me their old uniforms.”  

In 2010, Katumi was selected for the Camfed program and a full package of support – including fees, uniform, shoes and books. “Camfed’s intervention came at the right time to redeem my aunt and me from the shame we were going through as a result of our inability to re-pay the money we borrowed,” says Katumi. “It also gave me a peaceful mind and I am motivated to study hard.”  

“Another door that opened to me through Camfed’s support is the opportunity is fulfill my dreams of becoming a role model to the girls in my community. These girls do not have any one to look up to and as a result, do not go to school. I will tell my fellow girls that they can make it in life if they believe in themselves.” Katumi plans to be a nurse so she can return to the village where she was born. Currently, there is no clinic, and people must walk several miles to reach a health care facility.   “I want to help my people so they get the medical care they need,” she says.

The education a girl receives stays with her long after she graduates from school. She can start her own business and afford medical care and school tuition for her children. Poverty in developing nations is often a vicious cycle: those that can’t afford health care and an education are unable offer their children a better future, therefore perpetuating this socioeconomic status to the next generation. However, by giving a woman an education, she can break the cycle of poverty, becoming a leader in her community and educating the next generation.

Janna