HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HOLDS ANNUAL DAY OF DISCUSSION ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN, WITH A FOCUS ON EMPOWERMENT THROUGH EDUCATION

The Human Rights Council today held its annual day of discussion on women’s human rights with a focus on “Empowering Women through Education”.

In opening remarks, Alex Van Meeuwen, President of the Human Rights Council, said too many women and girls around the world experienced disadvantage in accessing education. Millions of women and girls could not read or write and they could not access the information they needed to participate actively in the political decision-making or assert their civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. They lacked access to better skilled and paid jobs and effective remedies to prevent them from being subjected to violence and abuse.

Kyung-Wha Kang, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that a girl without a solid education had limited opportunities and would find herself in situations of vulnerability throughout life. Of the world’s 130 million out-of-school youth today, 70 per cent were girls, but by some analyses, if just 20 per cent more girls were allowed to obtain secondary education, a country’s economy could be expected to grow by 3 per cent. When an educated girl earned an income, 90 per cent was reinvested in the family, as compared to only 35 per cent for boys.

The seven panellists were the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, the Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, the Chief of Education in Sudan for the United Nations Children's Fund, the Expert member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, a member of Morocco’s national Advisory Council on Human Rights, and a member of India’s Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights.

Vernor Muñoz Villalobos, Special Rapporteur on the right to education, said it was worrisome that at the end of 2005 it became clear that gender equality Millennium Development Goals would fail in 94 countries out of 149 for which the relevant information existed. Some of the issues connected to keeping women out of school were early marriages and unwanted pregnancies, which were indicators of a predominant belief that the only role of women was reproduction and existence in private home environments.

Catarina de Albuquerque, Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, noted that girls often had the daily task of fetching water, preventing them from attending school completely, or contributing to their tardiness. Girls, like boys, suffered severe health consequences from lack of safe drinking water and sanitation, which kept them out of school and, when older, from work. Good hygiene, including the ability to clean oneself, was also crucial for attending school in dignity. One statistic estimated that eleven per cent more girls attended schools when sanitation was available.

Rashida Manjoo, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, said that her intervention would focus on two important aspects concerning violence against women and the right to education: school safety for girls and, secondly, how education empowered women and girls to contribute to combating violence against them. Education was a crucial means to empowering women and girls to participate in the economic, social and political life of their societies. Girls were more often than boys the victims of certain types of violence, such as sexual harassment and sexual assault, which undermined their self-esteem, educational success and long-term health and well-being.

Cecilia Baldeh, Chief of Education, United Nations Children's Fund, Sudan, said that the number of children out of school varied between 33 and 100 million and that Universal Primary Education would not be achieved by 2015. Most of the countries lagging behind were low income countries affected by conflict, poor leadership or financial issues. Some middle income nations were at risk too, because of the wide disparities between the rich and poor. The international community must urgently address the impact of the global economic and financial crises on the right to education and the lack of a sound, predictable, accountable global financing mechanism for education.

Susana Villaran De La Puente, Expert member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, noted that there was a need to eliminate gender stereotypes in education, which was still not seen as a priority for girls in many societies where there were pressing needs such as poverty or conflict. Early marriage was seen as a way out and a way of providing for girls in an uncertain situation. The uncertain situations affecting all, such as climate change or conflict, had a different impact on girls. Children were affected by stereotypes in schools and sometimes schools were very isolated and parents were discouraged from sending their daughters to school.

Amina Lemrini, member of Morocco’s national Advisory Council on Human Rights, said many girls left school with a negative self-image, which pointed to the fact that school was a vector of dissemination of sexist stereotypes that devalued women and reproduced patriarchal culture. Women were poorly represented in school management or in teachers’ associations. Schools were not neutral and were unconsciously conveying preconceived societal roles and relationships, particularly through the “hidden curriculum” that reinforced the social relationship between the sexes that influenced the future of girls and boys.

Neha Sood, of India’s Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, said women’s oppression and disempowerment was inextricably linked with the regulation of their bodies and sexuality, and the denial of their sexual rights. Hence, a key to the empowerment of girls and women was to include in school curricula comprehensive and scientific information and discussion about gender, sexuality, human anatomy and development, body image, relationships, contraceptive methods, sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Education should improve the ability of women and girls to make life choices and help to equalize gender relationships and power imbalances in society.

In the ensuing discussion, delegations said, among other things, that the denial of the right to education on the grounds of religion was unacceptable. Girls should have as many years of education as boys and as long as their drop-out rate was higher, their empowerment would remain problematic. Forced and early marriage was heavily linked to the denial of health and education, and Governments should ensure the eradication of this phenomenon, as well as providing support for teenage mothers to continue their education. The fact remained that women represented more that half of the world’s poor, hungry and uneducated. They suffered from maternal mortality, early marriage, child birth, and pregnancy and birth-related complications, such fistulas, which often restricted their access to education. Promoting gender equality was a focus of successful governments and a basis of building a just society, and the key was improvement of women’s participation in decision-making in all walks of life. The importance of empowering women through education could not be over-emphasized, as it contributed directly to the increase in national income, child and infant health and child school enrolment, and decrease in fertility rates, unplanned pregnancies and infant and maternal mortality.

Speaking were the delegations of Chile, Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Spain on behalf of the European Union, France, China, Italy, Cuba, Japan, Turkey, Lithuania on behalf of the Community of Democracies, India, and Slovenia, Belgium, Guatemala, Nigeria on behalf of the African Group, Finland, Sri Lanka, United States, Saudi Arabia, United Nations Population Fund, Brazil, Russian Federation, Egypt, Colombia on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries, Ireland, Paraguay, New Zealand on behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Morocco, Portugal, Sweden, Algeria, Argentina, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Senegal, Indonesia, Viet Nam on behalf of the Association of South East Asian Nations, Yemen, Thailand, Qatar, Panama, Norway, Tunisia, Iran, Republic of Korea, Iraq, Slovakia, Sudan, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan and Hungary.

Also speaking were the following non-governmental organizations: Madre Incorporated, Verein Sudwind Entwicklungspolitik, Interfaith International, World Alliance of YMCAs, Worldwide Organization for Women, International Humanist and Ethical Union.

In concluding remarks, Alex Van Meeuwen, President of the Human Rights Council, said this panel gave them a solid overview of what the universal right to education meant for women and girls. It highlighted the gaps in the achievement of the implementation of the universal right to education when the issue was not addressed with a gender perspective. Today’s discussion also showed how the enjoyment of their right to education empowered women in their enjoyment of all their other human rights. The recommendations formulated today also stressed the role of the Human Rights Council in consolidating an approach to human rights that took into account the specific needs of women and the specific violations to which they may be subjected.

The Council today is holding a full day of meetings from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the annual day of discussion on women’s human rights was held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Council will meet this afternoon at 3 p.m., when it is scheduled to continue with its interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health, the Independent Expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty, and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences. It will then discuss thematic reports of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General.

The President of the Council said concerning the consideration of the report of the Independent Expert on the human rights situation in Sudan, on Friday, 4 June, he had received a Note verbale from the African Group requesting the postponement of the consideration of the report and the interactive dialogue to the fifteenth session of the Human Rights Council as well as the exceptional extension of the mandate of the Independent Expert. The matter was currently under discussion within the Bureau. According to the present Programme of Work, item 4 would not be opened until tomorrow morning. He would inform the Council on any further developments.

Opening Statements

ALEX VAN MEEUWEN, President of the Council, introducing the panel discussion on the Empowerment of Women through Education, said too many women and girls around the world experienced disadvantage in accessing education. Millions of women and girls could not read or write; uneducated women had no autonomy, they did not know what their rights were and how they could exercise them properly. They could not access the information they needed to take appropriate decisions and could not participate actively in the political decision-making or assert their civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. They would not have access to better skilled and paid jobs. They had less responsibilities or social influence, and lacked effective remedies to prevent them from being subjected to violence and abuse. Today's discussion should focus on the ways to ensure that universal education was available and accessible for women and girls but also that this education was of good quality and acceptable. The debate should stress how violence against women could have a strong impact on women's right to education and how knowledge and learning could contribute to combating discrimination against women. The participants should also discuss the practices which often prevented women and girls from fully enjoying their human right to education as well as the remedies available. The panel should also shed light on the Human Rights Council's role in furthering women's empowerment by focusing its attention on women and girls' access to education.

KYUNG-WHA KANG, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that gender discrimination was an ongoing priority for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the right to education was a key focus that cut across the work on discrimination during the 2010-2011 biennium. There were probably very few women in the room who had not had the benefit of receiving primary, secondary and higher education. A girl without a solid education had limited opportunities and would find herself in situations of vulnerability throughout life. Of the world’s 130 million out-of-school youth today, 70 per cent were girls. Meanwhile, when girls were educated, the benefits were truly life-changing. It had been showed that when a girl in the developing world received seven or more years of education, she married on average four years later than a girl without education. She was also more protected from an early or forced marriage and more likely to avert pregnancy and childbirth-related complications. By some analyses, if just 20 per cent more girls were allowed to obtain secondary education, a country’s economy could be expected to grow by 3 per cent. When an educated girl earned an income, 90 per cent was reinvested in the family, as compared to only 35 per cent for boys.

Women’s low rate of literacy and education correlated strongly to high rates of maternal mortality and other indicators of maternal health, including fertilization rate, utilization of parental care, contraception and age at first birth. Many low-cost health inventions could substantially reduce the instances of maternal death and disability. However, lack of education limited women’s knowledge of nutrition, birth spacing and contraception. Furthermore, in some countries, the level of education was found to be a key determinant in the quality of health care received, with less educated women facing greater discrimination in access to health-care facilities. The right to education was set out in numerous international human rights instruments at the global and regional levels, beginning with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In meeting these obligations, in the first instance, all States should prioritise free and compulsory primary education. Women’s exclusion from education and participation intersected with other problems, such as discriminatory patterns in ownership and exploitation of land, dispossession and forced eviction, and the right to inheritance. Education was a human right in itself, which no one should be deprived of. It was also the surest way to individual advancement and empowerment as well as to social progress. The Deputy High Commissioner concluded by urging States to invest in the education of young girls, who would not only take care of themselves but also their families and societies.

Statements by Panellists

VERNOR MUNOZ VILLALOBOS, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, said to was necessary to redefine the nature and the scope of educative systems in order to combat discrimination that existed in access to school and in curricular content. States must do much more that just put laws and public policies in place. Conservative estimates were that 55 million girls did not have access to education and that at least 23 countries were at risk of not achieving universal primary education by 2015. In those countries, 75 per cent of boys and girls had mothers who had no education themselves. It was worrisome that not a single country had eliminated gender inequalities in all aspects of social life, which was proof that gender inequality was not only a mechanical consequence of poverty. At the end of 2005 it became clear that gender equality Millennium Development Goals would fail in 94 countries out of 149 for which the relevant information existed. This meant that there would be 14 million less girls attending primary schools. The concept of parity was used to indicate how many girls were enrolled but said nothing about the quality. Access to school was not the only guarantee of the right to education, and what needed to be done was to ensure learning and respect for human rights in schools themselves.

Some of the issues connected to ancient patriarchal practices in keeping women out of school were early marriages and unwanted pregnancies, which were indicators of predominant belief that the only role of women was reproduction and existence in private home environments. It was important to bear in mind that problems connected with education of girls were also the content of curricula, for example lack of gender awareness, or sexual education. Teachers must be trained in using gender-sensitive materials which questioned the culturally established code of conduct that violated rights of women. In many countries there was no clear legislation to prevent and sanction sexual harassment in schools. Education for sexuality could not simply be seen as information provided on biology and health, but instead must be connected with gender relationships and loving relationships. The right to education for women and girls meant that the men must learn to shoulder their family and social responsibilities with respect. Schools were not often safe areas for girls and men must be involved in making them safer.

CATARINA DE ALBUQUERQUE, Independent Expert on the Issue of Human Rights Obligations Related to Access to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, said education was at the heart of empowerment, especially for those who experienced discrimination, including girls and women. When such discrimination and exclusion became embedded in society, education was the transformative element which helped to eliminate these human rights violations. This was evident in the case of women and girls, who, with higher and higher levels of education, were able to claim their human rights, challenge discrimination and demand equality. While progress had been made to ensure girls had access to education in the past years, worldwide there were still less girls enrolling in school, and more girls than boys dropping out. These facts were related also to access to safe drinking water and sanitation. While this was only one factor among many to ensure girls' empowerment through education, it was a critical one.

Girls often had a daily task of fetching water, preventing them from attending school completely, or contributing to their tardiness. Girls, like boys, suffered severe health consequences from lack of safe drinking water and sanitation, which kept them out of school and, when older, from work. It was estimated that 443 million school days were lost each year due to water-related diseases. Besides not being able to attend school when sick, their ability to study was also lessened. Good hygiene, including the ability to clean oneself, was also crucial for attending school in dignity. Hygiene conditions at schools could be deplorably bad, discouraging attendance. Lack of access to appropriate sanitation facilities had a particular impact on girls, with one statistic estimating that eleven per cent more girls attended schools when sanitation was available. Finally, education was crucial for girls and women to be empowered to claim their rights to water and sanitation, as well as all of their human rights. Hygiene education was particularly important to promote good health, but also to break the dominant taboos surrounding menstruation. Ensuring that girls and boys had equal educational opportunities was one of the most important and powerful steps towards combating gender discrimination and advancing children's and women's rights. Enabling girls to access basic education greatly enhanced the range of life choices available to them as women, and had profound and long-lasting benefits for families and entire communities.

RASHIDA MANJOO, Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences, said that violence against women and girls was both a symptom and a result of the larger problem of gender inequality, which had to be tackled in all spheres, and in particular the sphere of education. The Special Rapporteur said her intervention would focus on two important aspects concerning violence against women and the right to education: school safety for girls and, secondly, how education empowered women and girls to contribute to combating violence against them. According to Ms. Manjoo, girls made up more than 50 per cent of the children who were currently denied primary education and women also formed the vast majority of the illiterate persons worldwide. Education acted as a critical link in the realization of fundamental human rights and was a crucial means to empowering women and girls to participate in the economic, social and political life of their societies. Education also had a direct effect on unlocking a women’s potential, including making noticeable improvement in the health, nutrition, economic situation and overall well-being of both women and their families. Providing a safe learning environment, free from violence, was a Government obligation. Girls were more often than boys the victims of certain types of violence, such as sexual harassment and sexual assault, which undermined their self-esteem, educational success and long-term health and well-being. Sadly, many girls had come to accept teasing, bullying, sexually explicit jokes and gestures, excessive punishment and even unwanted sexual activities as the price to pay for their education. Rather than protecting and supporting girls, an alarming number of teachers were responsible for violence, including sexual abuse.

On the issue of education and its impact on female empowerment, the Special Rapporteur said that secondary education was crucial to overcoming entrenched and historical discrimination. When States ensured that girls had access to a rights-based, quality education that was rooted in gender equality, it created a ripple effect of opportunities that impacted generations to come. By educating girls, societies were empowering them to reject a dynamic that perpetuated their inequality, to break the silence on and reject violence against them. By contrast, lack of education ensured that women and girls had a low status in society and remained powerless and subordinate to men. Quite simply, this gender power imbalance at home and in the public realm perpetuated and increased women’s risks to being subjected to violence. The Special Rapporteur also addressed an interesting dichotomy in which certain studies revealed that higher education could actually increase women’s chances of experiencing violence – at least initially – as a result of their newfound empowerment. In this regard, male education could play an important role in advancing the empowerment of women, by engaging boys and men in confronting norms and attitudes that perpetuated inequality. Ms. Manjoo ended by reminding the Human Rights Council to continue addressing the issue of violence against women and girls and all its implications for the full enjoyment of their human rights.

CECILIA BALDEH, Chief of Education, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Sudan, said that the number of children out of school varied between 33 and 100 million children and that universal primary education would not be achieved by 2015. Most of the countries lagging behind were low income countries affected by conflict, poor leadership or financial issues. Some middle income nations were at risk too, because of the wide disparities between the rich and poor. At this rate, the right to education for some 56 million children would not be a reality by 2015. In many ways strategies aimed at bridging gender gaps had worked, while others, like talking to women rather than men about early marriages, had not been very effective, largely because they were not focused on root causes of the persistent gaps. The international community must urgently address the impact of the global economic and financial crises on the right to education and the lack of a sound, predictable and accountable global financing mechanism for education. UNICEF had been providing leadership and advocacy support in helping governments to design and implement policies and strategies that addressed the systemic causes of gender discrimination. In its recent policy review, UNICEF had recommitted itself to the imperatives of the girls’ education agenda. As the world geared up to 2015, there was a need to reflect on what needed to be done differently. It would be no longer possible to ignore building a culture of rights through education. This entailed how to use human rights principles to guide design and delivery of services, looking at policies for the redistribution of wealth in favour of the poor and marginalised; it entailed an agreed and predictable global resource base to systematically tackle exclusion.

UNICEF had been using the principles of human and child rights to guide its programming and used the very principles which underpinned human and child rights as the basis of cooperation. In the context of the global child-friendly schools initiative, UNICEF was using the principles to analyse problems and capacities of duty bearers, and redefine standards of quality, of school rules, codes of conduct for teachers and guidelines for participation of children and parent teacher associations. If building a rights culture was a possibility through education, nurturing and sustaining it required a global mechanism for the financing of education. At the global level, the year 2000 promise had been that no country would be left behind due to a lack of resources. Yet, there was no clear global financing mechanism for education that provided longer-term financing to close inequalities in education, especially in poor and conflict-impacted societies. This was perhaps one of the most pressing global concerns confronting the education sector. Finally, Ms. Baldeh suggested several concrete measures that the Human Rights Council Panel on Women’s Rights could implement, such as advocacy for improvement in quality and equity in education, and advocacy for increased investments in education, including establishment of a global financing mechanism that would provide predictable multi-year funding for poor and marginalized communities.

SUSANA VILLARAN DE LA PUENTE, Expert Member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, said education was essential to ensure that children developed harmoniously and with the tools to make their own choices, and in an environment where men and women could make decisions on an equal footing, cohabiting peacefully. Education for women and girls had been a matter of particular concern. The right to education was something that was examined throughout the child's life-cycle, up to the age of eighteen. This was a fundamental stage in life, with a bearing on the harmonious development of the girl-child, and education affected women's entire lives. All of the rights in this regard must be respected, with no discrimination - State Parties were required to protect boys and girls from gender-based discrimination. There was still a very high rate of illiteracy among adult women and girls, and this showed the need for actual access to the education system for women and girls. There was a need to eliminate gender stereotypes in education, which was still not seen as a priority for girls in many societies where there were pressing needs such as poverty or conflict.

Early marriage was seen as a way out and a way of providing for girls in an uncertain situation. The uncertain situations affecting all, such as climate change or conflict, had a different impact on girls. Children were affected by stereotypes in schools, and communication also affected girls, making them more likely to be the victims of sale and trafficking. Sometimes, schools were very isolated, and in this case parents were discouraged from sending their daughters to school. Unwanted pregnancies also affected the education of women and girls. There was a need to make women more involved in decision-making with regard to education. Domestic work was also a contributing factor limiting girls' access to education. There was a lack of protected budgets for girls. Violence against women was also an important factor. The international community must establish and fund special programmes to eradicate discrimination against women in formal and informal education, promote women's education, including sexual and reproductive education, consider that the education system promoted stereotypes, improve the participation of women and girls in all decision-making fora, and defy and challenge women and girls' invisibility.

AMINA LEMRINI, Member of Morocco’s National Advisory Council on Human Rights, said that several studies throughout the world had demonstrated the social benefits of girls’ education. Still, many girls left school with a negative self-image, which pointed to the fact that school was a vector of dissemination of sexist stereotypes that devalued women and reproduced patriarchal culture. There were other aspects of education that escaped monitoring and supervision, for example textbooks for girls where women’s only status was as wives and mothers. Boys received much more attention from teachers, and teachers also tended to attribute the bad results of boys to lack of efforts and for girls to lack of intelligence. Women were poorly represented in school management or in teachers associations. Schools were not neutral and were unconsciously conveying preconceived societal roles and relationships, particularly through the “hidden curriculum” that reinforced the social relationship between the sexes that influenced the future of girls and boys.

Ms. Lemrini said there were three possible avenues of intervention. The first involved the school itself, and she said that promoting a culture of equality was not just a simple transmission of factual knowledge nor act of indoctrination, but was the basis of education for human rights. The second was related to the political and social context of the schools. In Morocco, for example, the Moudawana reform of 2004 included a revision of terms of reference for the elaboration of school manuals and for a number of other actions of awareness-raising among teachers and students about the reform and its principles of equality and equity. The third avenue was related to the shared will of the international community, and Ms. Lemrini mentioned a major project under preparation, the United Nations Declaration on Education and Training for Human Rights. The international community must support the fact that education, training and awareness-raising about gender equality made an integral part of this draft Declaration. On the other hand, she also welcomed practical initiatives such as UNESCO’s 2007 methodological guide to the promotion of gender equalities by means of a school manual.

NEHA SOOD, Representative of the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, India, said that everyone knew that access to education improved women’s health, nutrition and life expectancy. It reduced age at marriage, age at first childbirth, infant and maternal mortality, and the spread of HIV and AIDS. Moreover, it increased contraceptive use and income and could generally be correlated with the improvement of other socio-economic indicators. More often than not, educated girls grew into agents of change for their own lives, their families, economies and societies. Parents should therefore desire an education for their daughters. Girls should be encouraged to go to school and teachers had a responsibility to not reinforce gender norms or violate the rights of female students. Rather, their teachings should promote gender equality, human rights and social justice. The safety of girls in schools and en route had to be assured. Access to education remained unequal. In general, girls had less access to education, especially those in impoverished households, in rural areas, living with disabilities, belonging to indigenous or minority communities, discriminated castes, tribes or races, and those who did not conform to social norms of gender and sexuality. Ms. Sood posed an interesting question to the Council, asking whether States were preoccupied with improving indicators, rather than women’s lives. In this respect, increased education could improve indicators but did it truly affect women’s status, empowerment or autonomy?

Education was more than getting all children to sit in schools to learn how to read and write so that they could secure better employment as adults. Education also played a role in developing personalities, talents, skills, values and leadership. Education was critical in providing individuals with the tools and knowledge to make informed decisions, to have the ability to undertake analysis and to live their lives to their fullest potential. As such, States needed to ensure that school curricula and educational settings were not sexist, did not reinforce gender norms that subordinated women and girls, and did not perpetuate inequity. Rather, school curricula and educational settings should be gender-sensitive, non-discriminatory and rights-based. Women’s oppression and disempowerment was inextricably linked with the regulation of their bodies and sexuality, and the denial of their sexual rights. Hence, key to the empowerment of girls and women was to include in school curricula comprehensive and scientific information and discussion about gender, sexuality, human anatomy and development, body image, relationships, contraceptive methods, sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Another area of concern, in India at least, was that parents did not let young women choose subjects of higher education that were deemed ‘adventurous’, ‘dangerous’ or ‘unconventional’. Many women got pushed into studying courses that they had no interest in and no desire to pursue. While they were being educated, they were also being disempowered. Ms. Sood concluded by saying that a girl who received schooling did not necessarily result in an empowered woman. Education should improve the ability of women and girls to make strategic life choices for themselves and help to equalize gender relationships and power imbalances in society.

Discussion

In the ensuing discussion, speakers said, among other things, that the international community should reaffirm that women did not constitute a vulnerable sector and were entitled to their rights. Overcoming invisibility of women was a vital task. The whole society should work for the empowerment of women. The Council could contribute to installing the concept of quality of education. To educate was to empower - this dealt with rights, access, and health. What could the Council do to make an effective contribution to the debate on quality and fairness of education, a speaker asked? Denial of the right to education on the grounds of religion was unacceptable. Girls should have as many years of education as boys - as long as their drop-out level was higher, then their empowerment would remain problematic. Taking a human rights-based approach would help to improve the situation - and such an approach required the sustained attention of the Council. Forced and early marriage was heavily linked to the denial of health and education, and Governments should ensure the eradication of this phenomenon, as well as providing support for teenage mothers to continue their education. States must repeal discriminatory provisions impeding women and girls’ access to education, both in law and in practice. Violence against women impeded women's access to education, including in such forms as female genital mutilation, and this also needed to be eradicated. There was a need for a fair international order that eradicated poverty in order to improve the situation of women and girls generally.

Speaking in this slot were the delegations of Chile, Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Spain on behalf of the European Union, France, China, Italy, Cuba, Japan, Turkey, Lithuania on behalf of the Community of Democracies, India and Slovenia. Also speaking was Madre Inc., and Verein Sudwind Entwicklungspolitik.

VERNOR MUNOZ VILLALOBOS, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, said regrettably the Millennium Development Goals reduced the right to education to the goal of gender equality and did not take into account the equality status as established in the Beijing programme of action. Also, much of the action of Governments continued to focus on primary school level while secondary school and higher education were not yet part of the priority strategies of some States. In terms of content of education, the central question was: education for what purpose? Human rights education should be part and parcel of education as human rights which were based on education were precisely what enabled to build knowledge that could help in life. It was essential to hold an integral view of the right to education with all its components, Mr. Muñoz Villalobos said and expressed hope that the Council would adopt resolutions in that regard and that the Terms of Reference of the Human Rights Council would be strengthened and that Special Rapporteurs would carry out joint studies in that regard.

AMINA LEMRINI, Member of Morocco’s National Advisory Council on Human Rights, on the role of human rights education and empowerment of women, said that education impacted on all systems, and that a school that respected human rights respected differences between boys and girls and was inclusive and participative. Turning to the training of professionals, Ms. Lemrini gave the example of the training of lawyers and judicial officials in Morocco in which she had been involved, and said that the political decision of ministries was needed to integrate in training the question of gender and gender equality.

RASHIDA MANJOO, Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences, said with regard to programmes and policies allowing teenage mothers to continue their education, unfortunately societal norms and standards often precluded the re-entry of teenage mothers into the educational system, and this was a gap that needed to be addressed. Teenage mothers had a right to education without being judged. In many countries, there were constraints; co-educational schools often led to parents pulling their adolescent girls out of school for many reasons, mainly due to societal norms and values. An insistence on co-educational schools could have a negative impact on girls' education. Education could also help women to leave abusive relationships.

NEHA SOOD, of Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights of India, said she would like to draw attention to the fact that Millennium Development Goal No. 8 did not recognize civil society organizations as key actors. Ms. Sood urged States to engage youth groups and women’s organizations and to consult with them on curricula that were more relevant for girls and children.

In the second part of the discussion, delegations said, among other things, that in spite of international agreements and instruments, and particularly the Beijing Declaration, denial of women’s human rights was persistent and widespread in all regions of the world. The progress that States sought in the world today was contingent on the progress of women in societies. The fact remained that women represented more that half of the world’s poor, hungry and uneducated. They suffered from maternal mortality, early marriage, child birth, and pregnancy and birth-related complications, such fistulas, which often restricted their access to education. Promoting gender equality was a focus of successful governments and a basis of building a just society, and the key was improvement of women’s participation in decision-making in all walks of life. The importance of empowering women through education could not be over-emphasized, as it contributed directly to increase in national income, child and infant health and child school enrolment, and decrease in fertility rates, unplanned pregnancies and infant and maternal mortality. However, simply providing access for women to education was not sufficient to achieve gender equality, as in many countries the number of women holding post-graduate degrees was higher than that of men, but still their participation in decision-making was weaker than that of men. School environments, school practices and curricula must be gender-sensitive to ensure women’s and girls’ access to education. Girls must feel safe from harassment and violence in order to be able to learn. Speakers wanted to hear more from members of the panel on the challenges to access to women and girls to education, such as gender segregation in education and lack of teachers. Also, a speaker asked how to ensure education in times of armed conflict. The Human Rights Council had a role to play in empowering women, not only through supporting their right to education, but also through removal of barriers and discrimination.

Speaking in this slot were the delegations of Belgium, Guatemala, Nigeria on behalf of the African Group, Finland, Sri Lanka, United States, Saudi Arabia, United Nations Population Fund, Brazil, Russian Federation, Egypt, Colombia on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries and Ireland. Also speaking were Interfaith International and World Alliance of YMCAs.

VERNOR MUNOZ VILLALOBOS, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, responded to comments made by Member States during the panel discussion. The Special Rapporteur said that the right to education should be guaranteed for all women. In this sense, women needed to be seen as rights holders and, unfortunately, this was not yet a reality in many parts of the world. With regard to education in emergency contexts, Mr. Munoz Villalobos reaffirmed that education needed to be part and parcel of any humanitarian response. In line with education for all situations or frameworks, the international community had an obligation to educate children in situations of conflict and crisis. States also needed to promote a minimum standards approach, particularly with respect to protecting women and children. In addition, there were significant problems concerning women and segregation and stereotypes in schoolbooks. This was often the case with migrant groups, and in particular indigenous women, Roma women and Dalit women. There was clearly an urgent need to bring these women back into the mainstream education system in order to help them integrate into society.

CECILIA BALDEH, Chief of Education, United Nations Children's Fund, Sudan, with regards to Italy’s comment on human rights education, said human rights were a concept that was threatening to many leaders around the world and, by extension, human rights education was seen as a tool to disempower political leaders. Human rights education therefore needed to target not only boys and girls in schools but also policy makers so that they could understand the linkages between rights and duties and how these could be most effectively achieved. Responding to the question asked by Finland, Ms. Baldeh said thanks to greater understanding of communities much had been achieved in terms of access but more needed to be done to achieve safety in and around schools. One way to achieve this was to increase women’s participation in terms of school governance to allow them making more effective decisions on how resources were mobilized and used to benefit boys and girls equally. As for the question of the United States related to the effectiveness of education in conflict situations, Ms. Baldeh said her experience suggested that education was not a priority in emergency and humanitarian settings. Turning to priorities for the future, she went on to say that the root causes of political conflict needed to be looked into in order to systematically eliminate violence against women and girls. It was also necessary to look at how to have more effective, redistributive policies on resources in communities. Also, to eliminate violence, opportunities should be created for women to lead, thus enabling the adoption of policies and programmes that contributed to the advancement of society rather than to conflict and violence.

AMINA LEMRINI, Member of Morocco’s National Advisory Council on Human Rights, on the obstacles to education, said that there was a tendency to believe that it was the customs of a country that were the principal obstacles to access to education for girls. Several studies had however demonstrated it was in fact poverty that prevented girls from going to school or causing them to drop out. Traditional practices were not inscribed in stone and they could be changed, for example the legal age for marriage. And even though it would be met with some resistance the change was still possible. Ms. Lemrini asked if the term empowerment could be considered apart from its legal dimension, which stipulated that women were human beings. Empowerment was a holistic concept and included non-discrimination against women in many contexts. On the new body that was being created within the United Nations, she said that it was an excellent idea to bring together different entities and that it would strengthen the capacity of the United Nations to address the promotion of women’s rights worldwide.

NEHA SOOD, Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, India, reaffirmed the importance of enacting and enforcing laws and procedures that prohibited violence against girls. Ms. Sood addressed a point raised by the delegation of Finland on the issue of gender awareness in schools. In this regard, there should be a focus on school curricula. Not only did curricula need to be reviewed to ensure that it did not perpetuate gender inequality, but it was equally important to collaborate with women and youth groups in this process. The next step in improving gender equality in educational settings involved the training of teachers. If teachers still had prejudices then they would not be capable of teaching new curricula with sufficient gender sensitivity. Teachers therefore needed special, and ongoing, training to deconstruct any prejudices that they might have.

In more questions and comments made by delegations in the discussion, speakers said, among other things, that the right to education was essential for women to achieve other fundamental human rights. Educational training and the inclusion of a gender perspective in school curricula were crucial to creating lasting change in attitudes and practices around the world. Integrating the rights of women in all United Nations instruments was essential and, as such, the Universal Periodic Review process could play an important role in the empowerment of girls and women. Guaranteeing equal access and ensuring high quality education for girls would have longer-term positive impacts, including the increase of women in political life and the global labour force. Investment in the education of women and girls was known to have a multiplier effect. It was vital in promoting peace and stable economies and was integral in the promotion of good health. Nevertheless, urban poverty remained a pervasive problem in many countries and needed to be addressed and combated in order to foster greater school enrolment and career opportunities for girls. In many cases, girls were forced to stay home to take care of their younger siblings so that their parents could work. Moreover, the violations of other basic human rights was often what kept women from having equal access to education. In this regard, forced and early marriages continued to have a detrimental impact on the opportunities for women to receive education. While the empowerment of women was inextricably linked to education, a number of delegations pointed out that building schools and increasing the attendance of female students was just the first step in establishing gender balance and gender equality in societies around the world.

Speaking in this slot were the delegations of Paraguay, New Zealand on behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Morocco, Portugal, Sweden, Algeria, Argentina, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Senegal and Indonesia. Also speaking was the Worldwide Organization for Women.

VERNOR MUNOZ VILLALOBOS, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, said, with regards to the prevention of sexual violence in the long term, that education reflected the dominant political culture. Education could therefore be an agent for change in favour of human rights, but education could not change things if politicians did not want things to be changed and violence too often stemmed from visions of the world that were based on patriarchal cultures. To strengthen human rights in educational systems there was a need to also teach human rights outside schools, to inform communities of human rights, and to raise awareness within public institutions and authorities. Also, sex education should not be seen as an out on a limb topic but should be mainstreamed through all education systems and be part and parcel of education curricula.

AMINA LEMRINI, Member of Morocco's National Advisory Council on Human Rights, said the question on how to fight stereotypes was an excellent question. Stereotypes were a product of socialisation, and a lot of factors contributed thereto. Beliefs became convictions, and convictions became discriminatory actions - it was a lengthy process. Stereotypes could not be fought by decreeing them to no longer exist - all that could be done was to take them apart and deconstruct them. This required two main actions: equality had to be institutionalised by administrative and legal acts which stipulated that women had human rights just as did any other person; second, education needed to be changed, and the content be made to help bring down stereotypes. The Convention on the Rights of the Child had two articles, on access to and content of education. Stereotypes were profoundly anchored in minds, and to break them down required a proactive policy that brought into play everything that a State could put forward as action. There was thus a need for education, as well as for awareness-raising.

CECLIA BALDEH, Chief of Education, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Sudan, said that the international community needed to revisit the issue of standards and, more importantly, the systems that monitored those standards. There were no shortages of laws on violence, and especially on violence against women. However, there were significant shortcomings concerning the enforcement of those laws. In response to a question from the United Kingdom on how best to achieve Millennium Development Goal number three, Ms. Baldeh stated that good practices had not been scaled up and many remained isolated pilot projects. With regard to the new United Nations women agency, Ms. Baldeh exclaimed that the agency needed to implement a multi-sectoral, holistic and integrated approach in order to be effective. It also needed to do more work on the ground, at the country level.

NEHA SOOD, Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, India, responding to the question about how to increase the number of female teachers in schools, said this could be addressed by short-time measures such as targeted interventions to promote female teacher training. Nevertheless, in the long-term, and as part of a larger vision, it was desirable that all teachers were trained, that they provided rights-based education to children in and outside schools, and that they not only taught the curricula, but followed principles of learning and education when teaching them. In response to the question of the United Kingdom on Millennium Development Goal No. 3, Ms. Sood said while indicators were necessary for monitoring purposes, the work primarily consisted of protecting and promoting human rights of all. Indicators were only tools that showed whether or not the international community was on the right track.

In the continuing discussion, among other things, delegations said that with their undeniable contribution to society, enhancing women's visibility would aid them in playing an important part and making even further contributions to the global society. Only through education could they enjoy all their rights and freedoms, including those to equality, equal pay for equal work, and participation in decision-making. The Council needed to make further efforts as required by building human rights, and constructing enjoyment of human rights for women, as well as increasing educational opportunities for women. The effort to create an enabling environment based on a profound knowledge of socio-economic structures needed to be further strengthened. Empowering women not only benefited them, but also men and society as a whole. What tangible criteria and measures could be recommended to States to uphold effective equality in education, in particular with regard to vulnerable groups, a speaker asked? Governments must translate norms in policies and practical measures that should make a difference on the ground and implement them. Norms and policies should contribute towards changing behaviour. Men in particular would have to change their behaviour. If the international community could not make changes on the ground, then it should review issues and the way that it was working. Violence against women, be it on an individual or structural basis, continued to be an important element inhibiting women's empowerment and supporting discrimination against them. Violence against women was a drama, a dramatic break of human rights, and this illustrated the challenges faced by the international community, and all, non-governmental organization, civil society, Governments, States, those in the room and elsewhere, had to address this issue with the urgency it required.

Speaking in this slot were Viet Nam on behalf of the Association of South East Asian Nations, Yemen, Thailand, Qatar, Panama, Norway, Tunisia, Iran, Republic of Korea, Iraq, Slovakia, Sudan, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan and Hungary. Also speaking were International Humanist and Ethical Union.

VERNOR MUNOZ VILLALOBOS, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, in his concluding remarks, said that most of those who were illiterate were women, and that the progress towards gender inequality was so slow that he did not believe it would be achieved before 2040. Quite a few countries today had mentioned that gender inequality had not been wiped out in their secondary education. Reality showed that schools had not yet been properly designed to cater to specific needs of girls - teachers preferred to teach boys, girls were not as involved in class activities as much as boys were, and violence against girls had not decreased. The Special Rapporteur called on the distinguished delegations to ensure that the right to education would become a reality for all.

CECILIA BALDEH, Chief of Education, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Sudan, said she would focus on the points that were raised by the delegate from Norway. Everyone could agree that much progress had been made, but everyone could also agree that they still had a long way to go. She thought there was a clear consensus that governments had to ensure that there was effective education on human rights which could include education on gender issues and peace and conflict resolution so that they could live in a peaceful environment. As far as programmes on the ground, the international community should not just innovate, it should plan for sustainability and scale up and integrate what worked into existing education systems. Thirdly, Ms. Baldeh said they needed to invest more in education. There were countries that had set up funds and social safety nets, reprioritized and given greater attention to the need for education and they were leading the way. Why could the others not follow? It was equally important to look at the effectiveness of financial management systems and account for resources that were invested in education. One of the greatest failures in the past decade or two in the education system was the failure to define global financing mechanisms to go along with the Millennium Development Goals, so the international community could no longer define goals and targets without really deciding what kinds of resources were needed to implement these goals and what they then needed in terms of the legal backing at the country and global level to ensure every country had the obligation to invest in the implementation of globally agreed goals.

AMINA LEMRINI, Member of Morocco's National Advisory Council on Human Rights, said human rights and women's rights were indivisible and interdependent - empowerment depended on a range of factors in education, including quality and education that referred to equality itself, but also depended on the legal and social status of women, that made them rights-holders and fully-fledged beings. All in this room knew what needed to be done - there were norms and standards. This was the common standard, the common history of humanity. There was research, standards, surveys into women's education - no stone had been left unturned, and there was a background of recommendations and views relating to education. All were aware of the realities of respective countries, knowing what shortcomings existed. The time had now come for action - the international community needed to implement strong policies that would help to make good the time lost. Gender equality was a generational issue in many countries, but it was work that needed to be carried out every day.

NEHA SOOD, Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, India, said that in addition to increasing the quality of curricula, governments should not lose sight of children and youth, both in and out of school, and should mobilize them to build leadership. Educational interventions must include also education on often neglected areas of sexual education, which included relationships, contraception, marriage, and what kind of life young people envisioned for themselves. Ms. Sood thanked the Government of Chile for organizing this excellent panel.

ALEX VAN MEEUWEN, President of the Human Rights Council, in concluding remarks, said this panel gave them a solid overview of what the universal right to education meant for women and girls. It highlighted the gaps in the achievement of the implementation of the universal right to education when the issue was not addressed with a gender perspective. Today’s discussion also showed how the enjoyment of their right to education empowered women in their enjoyment of all their other human rights. The recommendations formulated today also stressed the role of the Human Rights Council in consolidating an approach to human rights that took into account the specific needs of women and the specific violations to which they may be subjected.

For use of information media; not an official record

HRC10/065E