we all have the opportunity to pay it forward and light a fire today in a child’s imagination, in a child’s heart.
reblogged from adventuresinlearning source: etsy.com
An interesting supplement released today with USA Today about Women and Girls.
The world urgently needs to recruit more than 8 million extra teachers, according to UN estimates, warning that a looming shortage of primary school teachers threatens to undermine global efforts to ensure universal access to primary education by 2015.
At least 2m new teaching positions will need to be created by 2015, the UN said in a report published this week. An additional 6.2 million teachers will need to be recruited to maintain current workforces and replace those expected to retire or leave classrooms due to career changes, illnesses, or death. (via Global teacher shortage threatens progress on education | Global development | guardian.co.uk)
When I hear the term ‘honor killing,’ it isn’t an association I make with the western world. While it remains an inadequately documented custom in our world, this tradition of family members killing other members in a misguided attempt to restore family honor is a harsh reality to women and girls…
As The Independent recently reported, children’s charity Plan UK recently released a report called “Because I am a Girl” that draws on new research into the views of thousands of boys and girls aged between 12 and 18, from the UK, India and Africa. It states that “Our families and schools are handing gender inequality, and violence against girls, down through the generations.”’
Some key findings from the study:
- Girls are conditioned to expect less of themselves than boys. Doing better than their male peers at school does not translate into future rewards – women still earn up to 22 percent less than men in most countries in the world, including Britain.
- ONE IN THREE British boys view women politicians as being inferior to men. 34 per cent in Rwanda and 55 percent in India see female politicians as second-rate.
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ONLY LESS THAN HALF of boys in the UK, 52 percent in Rwanda and 61 per cent of boys in India agreed: “It would be good to have the same number of men and women leading top companies.”
- 66% of children in Rwanda and 74% of children in India ”totally agree” that a woman’s most important role is to be a housewife. (Only 11 percent of British children)
- Almost two-thirds of UK boys, however, think that a woman’s most important role is to take care of her home and cook for the family – something less than half of girls agree with. 39 per cent of British boys think that men should have the “final word” at home – compared with 20 per cent of girls.
- 97% per cent of children saying that “parents must take equal responsibility for their children.”
- Globally, 150 million girls and young women under 18 have been raped or sexually assaulted. “The belief that girls and women are somehow inferior – fuels male violence towards them.”
According to the report, prospects for gender equality will not improve unless boys and men join the fight for equality, change their mindsets and become more involved in family life. The report reveals how sexist attitudes are deeply entrenched among today’s children, and that girls suffer a “double whammy” of discrimination due to their age and sex – leaving them at “the bottom of the social ladder”.
In an example of some of the case studies, Latrell Randeen, 15, (pictured above) from Chingford, England, believes both that “domestic chores should be done by women,” but also that there “should be equal numbers of men and women in top jobs because if a woman goes for a job, she should get it if she’s good enough. I think women are better politicians than men because women do things better, whereas men just rush stuff to get things over and done with.”
We have the chance to make a difference to make a change today with young children. Both boys and girls must believe a) they deserve all the educational, job, etc… opportunities and that b) they have the equal household responsibilities. Society and women will have to begin to make these demands. As Gloria Steinman wrote in The Way We Are…And Will Be, things like free child-care centers “are not for the benefit of “working mothers,” any more than free schools are. They are simply the right of every child.” Equality does not only benefit women, but also our communities at large. The right to equal opportunity is the right of every person and that is part of our mission at Circle of Women to provide girls with the education that they deserve, but also to let them know that they are worthy and deserve and can do great things with the education that they are getting.
Photo from The Independent.
“Days after a prominent Yemeni human rights activist became the first Arab woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, dozens of women were injured after gangs attacked during a march in her honor, witnesses in the city of Taiz said Monday. Thousands of women gathered in the southern Yemeni city to celebrate Tawakkol Karman’s honor Sunday. Demonstrators also called on the international community to support a revolution in Yemen, witnesses said. At least 38 women were injured by rocks and batons when pro-government gangs attacked at Sunday’s march, said Yasser al-Nusari, a medic in Taiz’s Freedom Square. Abdulhaleem Al-Madashi, a spokesman for the protest movement there, corroborated that account. The Yemeni government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.” Read more at CNN.
It can be shocking how the accomplishments of women can ignite such fiercely opposing emotions and reactions from men and women in various cultures. Though women face barriers and opposition daily, we must continue to celebrate the victories and triumphs that we do gain and move forward hoping to inspire other women through the hardships to become the best the best that they can. Though sometimes it seems to feel like one great leap forward incites various small push-backs, we must continue to push forward! Giving just one girl the opportunity for education might one day allow her to gain the entire world as her audience. Women should look towards that potential for every small voice to step upon a community-wide platform. Despite the violence and push-back, like these courageous Yemeni women, women should all continue to fight for the recognition and rights that we deserve!
The MSF clinic in northern Burkina Faso has treated more than 40,000 malnourished children in the last three years. In the Starved for Attention Film “A Mother’s Devotion,” photojournalist Jessica Dimmock tenderly captures the heartbreaking emotional strains experienced by a young, hard working mother, Natasha, simply trying to feed her children. Alone at 24, she scavenges firewood to sell in the market. Her meager earnings force an impossible choice: between buying food or medicine for her three children.
This is one of 195 million stories of malnutrition. Sign the petition and donate your profile to help us rewrite the story.
Photo: Burkina Faso 2009 © Jessica Dimmock/VII
Sign the petition today and help to make a difference in a woman’s life.
reblogged from doctorswithoutborders source: doctorswithoutborders
The Nobel Prize Committee awarded the Peace Prize yesterday to three women, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, peace activist Leymah Gbowee, and human rights activity Tawakkul Karman, in the hopes that these women can “bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many countries, and to realize the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent.” Just like the Nobel Prize Committee, Circle of Women sees women across the world as the key to jump-starting social development and change.
Read more here.
In Kitui, eastern Kenya, of 90 farmers learning to control run-off, walking miles to fetch water, very few are men. In rural ares of Kenya and South Sudan, most smallholder farmers are women.
A Chicago think tank (the Chicago Council on Global Affairs) recently released a report discussing the role of women and adolescent girls called Girls Grow: A Vital Force in Rural Economies (pdf). The key point that is driven home? “Adolescent girls and women are the key to unlocking the full potential of agricultural development in poor countries and ensuring food security” (UK Guardian).
As was noted earlier this week in the girl effect blogging campaign, what it boils down to is the effect that one girl can have on an entire community. According to the lead author of the report, “If the world is to meet the challenge of feeding 9 billion people by 2050, we must invest in the human capital of those with the potential to transform agricultural economies – adolescent girls.”
Let’s break it down:
If women farmers were given the same access to resources (i.e. finance),
- Women’s agricultural yields could increase by 20-30%
- National agricultural yields could rise by 2.5-4%
- Number of malnourished could be reduced by 12-17%
So why is it that despite this obvious potential, it is girls that are thought of last and given the leftover scraps of opportunity that boys and men don’t want? According to the report, girls and women not only power much of the agricultural productivity of their communities, but are also working while suffering from malnutrition. They have little opportunity for even the most basic education. So of the reports several recommendations, its most important covers education:
”Education is the single most vital component of improving the lives of rural adolescent girls and helping them to live up to their potential … education for girls has high returns in terms of income and livelihood opportunities, including increasing agricultural productivity.”
“Specifically, the report calls on governments to nationally mandate universal primary and secondary education, make schools girl-friendly, appoint more women teachers, put schools in rural locations to cut down on travelling time, and provide incentives to parents to keep girls in schools through scholarships, cash transfers and elimination of school fees.
Bertini acknowledged that some girls may want to leave farming after having been educated, but said not all would. “The current model is not sustainable for the long term. We do know women do most of the farming, and educated farmers will be more productive,” she said. “We have to do what we can to provide leadership so that they can be more productive in the long term” (UK Guardian).
This report presents us with empirical evidence of what many of us have always believed- a girl’s education can go a long way. Girls are the answer, not the problem. If we can provide more girls with education, it not only enriches her life, but all of ours.
Read the full story at the UK Guardian here.
Photo Credits:
In Libya’s capital city, hundreds of people recently turned out for a fundraiser organized by women from the city. The scene almost seems reminiscent of a high school bake sale where the women sold baked goods and handicrafts. There was even a moon bounce for the kids and face painting!
What was different? “Most of the women wore headscarves, and among the more popular items for sale were hand-knitted versions of the Libyan flag. The women running this fundraiser are revolutionaries, and they played a large but often unsung role in the uprising that toppled Moammar Gadhafi back in August. Now, they want a larger role in the new government and political system under construction in Libya.”
Who says that a baked goods and crafts-making fundraiser can’t go a long way? If there is a will there is a way. These inspiring women demonstrate an incredible strength of conviction in having their rights- to a voice, to education and to a better life. For those of you finding ways to raise awareness and money for your cause, don’t be afraid to just run a very back to basics bake sale! At Circle of Women, we both believe in a girl’s right to education and the power that cupcakes and cookies have in helping to create that opportunity.
Listen to the full NPR story here.
