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Gender Wire

November 2011 | Issue 10 | UNESCO Bangkok

Hello!

Welcome to Gender Wire: a newsletter exploring current gender trends and issues, for people pushing forward gender equality in education in Asia and the Pacific.

With so many decades dedicated to reaching gender equality in education, how do we know if progress has been made?

The Global Gender Gap Report provides new data on gender rankings in 135 nations, focusing on education and three other indicator areas. The World Economic Forum report explores the gender gap by comparing women’s and men’s access to education in primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as literacy levels.

The report shows that 93% of the gap in education has been closed globally. How did UNESCO Asia Pacific Member States do? New Zealand, the Philippines and Australia demonstrated the smallest gap (all ranked one) in education, while India (ranked 121), Pakistan (127) and Nepal (128) demonstrated the highest gender gaps.

How does your country rank? Review the full report here

But although globally women seem to be winning the battle on education and health – they still cannot get a firm foot in politics and business. Check highlights of the overall Global Gap Indicators in Member States below or read about the financial impact of gender gaps.

Gender Gap Indicators (GGI) in Member States in Asia-Pacific
5 Highest GGI's				5 Lowest GGI's
Rank	Country	GGI 2011 Data	GGI 2010 Data	Rank	Country	GGI 2011 Data	GGI 2010 Data
6	New Zealand	0.7810	0.7808	113	India	0.6190	0.6155
8	Philippines	0.7685	0.7654	122	Turkey	0.5954	0.5876
23	Australia	0.7291	0.7271	125	Iran	0.5894	0.5933
31	Sri Lanka	0.7212	0.7458	126	Nepal	0.5888	0.6084
36	Mongolia	0.7140	0.7194	133	Pakistan	0.5583	0.5465

We are delighted to announce the winning drawings of the UNGEI Children’s Drawing Contest for Gender Equality in Education, available here for you to enjoy. The drawings, representing 24 countries from our region, were selected by public vote, and will be included in the UNGEI calendar for 2012. Both contest and calendar are strongly supported by UNESCO and we would like to thank all our colleagues and partners who helped share information and collect drawings in their country.

A special mention goes out to the children artists who provided over 3000 submissions to the competition. Thank you for your inspirational and thoughtful drawings.

On behalf of the APPEAL Gender Team

Lehitraot, Au revoir and Hooroo!

Idit, Adrien and Fuchsia.

Citi, 15 years old, Indonesia

WHAT'S NEW?

Global: Summit Participants Join Efforts to Educate and Empower Girls
The recent Women & Girls Education Summit in New York explored linkages between girls’ education and economic development. A follow-up event showcased organizations doing well by doing good. Ariana Tsapralis of Girl Up encourages all girls to become activists, on behalf of disadvantaged girls around the world.

South Asia: Secondary Education is the Next Great Challenge for Gender Parity
Although noting improvements in gender parity globally, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics calls for action on remaining disparities in secondary education. Girls in South and West Asia still face significant barriers: female gross enrolment ratio at lower secondary level reached just 69% in 2009, up from 53% in 1999.

Sri Lanka: New Challenges - GBV and Adolescent Girls
Facing its largest ever youth population of 5.6 million, UNFPA have found that adolescents in Sri Lanka face lower levels of gender discrimination at home and at school relative to the rest of South Asia. However, adolescent and youth issues are neglected including reproductive health services, the position of adolescent girls in society and the increase in gender-based violence towards women. This youth bulge is faced with shortages in the education system. UNICEF and IOM identify floods, a lack of teachers, and limited investment in education as key issues.

Afghanistan: Bonn Summit could "Legitimize the Taliban," warns Afghan Minister of Women’s Affairs
Afghan women activists visited policymakers in Europe to lobby for involvement in the upcoming international Conference of Foreign Ministers. “The Taliban are gaining power, and there is great danger for educated women." Says Dr. Jalal.

Afghanistan: Women Join Elite New Army Unit
Despite a Congress ban on active combat, women are making their way into a special army unit. Female soldiers will work with women and children, who are typically held separately during village raids. Since it is against cultural norms for Afghan women to interact with male soldiers, female soldiers will work directly with female civilians to strengthen trust and rapport with women and children.

Nepal: School Meals Girl Conquers Everest
It was a long route to the top of Everest for Nim Doma Sherpa, but she reckons it started when her parents sent her to school simply to get the free lunches supplied by WFP. In 2008, Nim Doma finally achieved her dream of climbing the highest mountain in the world.

India: Two Girls Find Themselves on the Path to Success, with Help from 10,000 Women
Entrepreneurial skills workshops now form part of Room to Read Girls’ Education programme. The curriculum has been developed in partnership with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, which provides business and management education to underserved female entrepreneurs in developing and emerging markets.

India: Name Changing Ceremony Aims to Improve Status of Girls and Women
In an innovative bid to fight gender discrimination, Satara district in India’s western state of Maharashtra recently witnessed a minor revolution. Over 285 Indian girls named Nakhushi (‘unwanted’ in Hindi) by their disenchanted parents were renamed in a state-organized ceremony.

Singapore: Few Women at the Top
Women make up just 6.9 per cent of board members of listed companies on the Singapore Exchange, a figure described as “dismal” by Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports.

Asia: Educated Women Refuse to Submit Themselves to a Life of Traditional Wifely Duties
Growing unease in Asia about the social and economic implications of a dramatic shortage of brides.

7 Billion Reasons to Empower Women
UN Foundation’s Ted Turner says our future depends on listening to women and investing in them. There are 215 million women worldwide who want the ability to space their pregnancies, but do not have access to contraception. In the developing countries, pregnancy and childbirth complications are the leading cause of death among women in their reproductive years. A staggering one out of eight women dies giving birth in Afghanistan. The tragedy is that one-third of these deaths could be prevented if women had access to voluntary family planning.

Global: Teacher Shortage Threatens Progress on Education

UNESCO estimates 8 million extra teachers are needed worldwide by 2015. But how do countries compare? Get the full data here.

WIDER LENS

WHAT'S GOING ON?

UNESCO Gender Focal Point Training, Paris

Staff training to facilitate the UNESCO Priority for Gender Equality, aimed at increasing impact, effectiveness and visibility.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 25 Nov 2011

Did you conduct an activity to mark this day? Let us know at gender.bgk@unesco.org

16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, Center for Women's Global Leadership, 25 Nov – 10 Dec 2011

Interactive event to raise awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue at local, national, regional and international levels. This year’s theme: “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let's Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!”

Check worldwide activities. There is also a toolkit.

Gender Diversity Benchmark for Asia 2011 Webinar, Community Business, 30 Nov, 4.30pm to 6.00pm (Hong Kong Time)

Webinar to share the findings of Report on Gender Diversity in Asia 2011 and discuss the advancement of women across Asia.

NEW TUBE

India: Girls Inspired to Study in Luxmi/Video Volunteers
The desire to be educated, and pursue dreams beyond the confines of domestic village life, spurs families to send their girls to colleges located away from their village.

India: Shakira promotes girls' education/UNICEF

Solomon Islands: Teenage pregnancy/ Girls4Change
Girls4change are young Solomon Islands women between the ages of 15-29 making positive changes in their lives and communities. The digital stories are based on issues affecting young people in Solomon Islands such as: water supply, teenage pregnancy, youth unemployment and the positive contribution of women to society. The UNESCO APIA office supports this project.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

European Union Call for Proposals for Women’s Rights and Empowerment. Closing date: 26 Jan 2012. Proposals should contribute to the promotion of women’s social and economic empowerment, by developing and strengthening sustainable initiatives at local and national levels.

UBS Optimus Foundation Seeks Funding Proposals Linking Health and Education. Closing 30 Nov 2011. Projects from NGO’s and universities or research institutes should link health and education. The funding is aimed at promoting multi-sectoral integration, such as mainstreaming early child development into health programmes like maternal and child health, nutrition, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and violence and injury. 

NEW ON THE SHELF

INEE Pocket Guide to Gender – Equality in and through Education, Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies
Outlines principles for a gender-responsive approach to guide education programming, and provides responses to some of the most common misconceptions and arguments against gender mainstreaming in the education sector. The Pocket Guide gives concrete strategies and actions for putting gender equality into practice in education.

Nepal: A Study on Gender Responsive Budgeting, Ministry of Education Nepal, UNESCO, UNICEF

Situation analysis of gender responsive budgeting in the education sector in Nepal, charts the introduction of GRB in Nepal and application in the education. Recommendations are made to review the GRB scoring system in order to make it more meaningful for the education sector.

Closing the Education Gap: Online Interactive Gendered World Map
Compare countries and see how the gender gap in education has changed over time.

The Parenting Education Guidebook, UNESCO
Provides essential, practical information about early childhood care and education for all caregivers, including parents, grandparents, siblings and community members. Includes an exploration of the father’s role in caring for children. Facilitators’ Handbook for Parenting Education is also available.

Gender Diversity Benchmark for Asia 2011, Community Business
Report found that representation of women is highest at junior level and lowest at senior levels in companies surveyed in China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. Malaysia had representation of 27.57% women at senior levels. India is consistently the worst performer in terms of the representation of women in the total workforce, junior and middle level positions. It performs only slightly better than Japan at senior level positions.

Research Study on Violence Against Marginalised Women in South Asia (Executive Summary), CREA
Multi-country research study on violence against lesbian women, female sex workers, and disabled women in three countries in South Asia — Bangladesh, India, and Nepal.

ONE GOOD PRACTICE A MONTH

Using Gender-Neutral Language

There has been growing awareness that language does not merely reflect the way we think: it also shapes our thinking. Sexist language is a behavior which can legitimize and perpetuate the moral and social exclusion of women. If words and expressions that imply that women are inferior to men are constantly used, that assumption of inferiority tends to become part of our mindset.

The use of imprecise terms, such as mankind, can exclude women from debate, while the use of non-sexist language can avoid giving offence and include both sexes.

Want help understanding sexist language and using non-sexist language alternatives? Check out UNESCO’s Guidelines on Gender Neutral Language.

JUST A QUICK QUESTION

What is the Global Partnership for Education and How Does it Support Girls’ Education?

The Global Partnership for Education is a multilateral global partnership aimed at getting the 67 million children currently out of school in developing countries into school for a quality education. Find out more about the Global Partnership in this video.

A replenishment on 8 November 2011 saw donors, country partners and government recommit to the partnership. The replenishment will see an extra 25 million children into classrooms and 600,000 new teachers trained by 2014. All government partners committed to the policy goals of improving progress in girls’ education, fragile states, learning outcomes and education access.

Countries facing major gender disparities, including Afghanistan, pledged to increase interventions specifically targeting gendered barriers to education. This includes recruiting and deploying tens of thousands of female teachers to rural and deprived areas through incentive schemes, female recruitment, and accelerated learning and training for female teacher candidates. Countries have also pledged to improve girls attendance and retention by increasing the number of mother’s groups and female representation in school management committees, developing girls’ education communication strategies, introducing girl friendly teaching materials and reducing gender stereotyping in the curriculum, working to eliminate child marriage, and increase grants and bursaries schemes for vulnerable girls.