1. Give women equal access to education.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:

You have the right to the same level and standard of education as men and boys. UDHR 26:1; ICESCR 13; CEDAW 10; ICERD 5d:v; CDE 1a

Children of working parent(s) have the right to benefit from child-care services. CRC 18:3

Women and men share a common responsibility for the upbringing and development of their children. CEDAW: 5b

ACTIONS:

• End discrimination in education at all levels and consider establishing grievance procedures.
  
  
• Increase enrollment and keep girls in school through a variety of methods, including increasing the funds available, campaigns, incentives and flexible school schedules.
  
  
• Provide universal primary education by the year 2015.
  
  
• Remove barriers to the schooling of pregnant adolescents and young mothers by providing child care support and other services.
  
  
• Develop and put in place education, training and retraining policies for women, especially young women and women re-entering the labour market.
  
  
  

2. Wipe out illiteracy among women.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:

You have the right to education no matter where you live or where you are from. CDE 3

ACTIONS:

• Reduce female illiteracy to at least half its 1990 level as a step towards elimination. Emphasis on rural, migrant, refugee, displaced and disabled women.
  
  
  

3. Improve women's access to vocational training, science and technology, and continuing education.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:

You have the right to vocational training, technology education and, in some circumstances, to paid educational leave during working hours. ICESCR 6:2; CEDAW 10a; HRD 1; PEL 2 and 8

You have the right to the same teacher training as men and boys. CEDAW 10a; CDE 4d

You have the right to continuing education, literacy programmes and any type of education that reduces the gap in education between men and women. CEDAW 10e, f

ACTIONS:

• Train women for the full range of careers, which includes access to vocational, scientific and technological information and education.
  

4. Develop education and training programmes that do not discriminate against women.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:

Education shall be directed, without discrimination, towards the full development of the human being and increasing respect for human rights. UDHR 26:2; ICESCR 13:1; CRC 29:1b; CDE 5:1a

All teaching methods and materials should be free of gender stereotypes. CEDAW 10c

ACTIONS:

• Develop educational materials to include: human rights, status of women, gender studies, leadership training, family responsibilities, sex and reproductive rights and responsibilities.
  
  

5. Provide sufficient resources for educational reform and monitor its progress.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:

You have the right to a free and compulsory primary education. UDHR 26:1; ICESCR 13:2a; CEDAW 10; CRC 28:1a; CDE 4a

You have the right to accessible secondary education. UDHR 26:1; CEDAW 10a; ICESCR 13:2b; CRC 28:1b; CDE 4a

You have the right to higher education that is based on merit. UDHR 26; CEDAW 10d; ICESCR 13:2c; CRC 28:1c; CDE 4a

If you left school prematurely, you have a right to special educational programmes. CEDAW 10f

ACTIONS:

• Maintain or increase funding levels.
  

6. Encourage life-long education and training for women.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:

You have the right to specific education information to help ensure the health and well-being of families, including information on family planning. CEDAW 10h

Education: Achievements

• Increased awareness that education is one of the most valuable ways of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women.
  
  
• Progress at all levels in women’s and girls’ education and training, especially when there was political commitment and resource allocation.
  
  
• Measures taken to initiate alternative education and training to reach women and girls in indigenous and marginalized communities.
  
  
• Measures taken to remove gender biases from education and training.
  Education: Obstacles
  
  Education: Obstacles
  
  
• Lack of resources and insufficient political will to eradicate illiteracy and increase women’s and girls’ access to all types and levels of education.
  
  
• Persistent gender discrimination and bias, including in teacher training.
  
  
• Gender-based occupational stereotyping in schools and communities.
  
  
• Lack of childcare facilities.
  
  
• Persistent use of gender stereotypes in educational materials.
  
  
• Insufficient attention paid to the link between women’s higher education and the needs of the labour market.
  
  
• Lower-quality education resulting from inadequate salaries and benefits for teachers, particularly in remote areas.
  
  
• Lack of progress in eradicating illiteracy, aggravating women’s I inequality at economic, social and political levels.
  
  
• Inappropriate design and application of structural adjustment programmes resulting in less investment in the educational infrastructure.