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79. In addressing unequal access to and inadequate educational opportunities, Governments and other actors should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes, so that, before decisions are taken, an analysis is made of the effects on women and men, respectively.
Beijing Declaration (1995)
Paragraph 79 of the Beijing Declaration provides a glimpse into the focus of some rights work, circa 1995, on the ways in which unequal access and inadequate educational opportunities, as it describes them, impact the lives of the world’s citizenry; arguably, even easily based on known data from a variety of domains – except in a few only in the last decade or so, this has been the trend but even worse for women and girls, over time, especially as they remain unable to attain some education based on the demand of the government, the culture, the family, or the religion.
Straightforward oppression of women and girls, now, they attain more in the more developed societies through hard work; this should inspire the men and upcoming women, not become a basis for repression and restriction of women or resentment on the part of boys and men.
The governments and the relevant other large-scale actors in this should work to further incorporate a gendered perspective, e.g., taking into account the sexual education needs of girls and women, targeting counter-cultural stream programs to encourage women and girls to enter into fields they have been deemed unable to enter, provide other services unique to the health and wellness of girls and women in educational institutions, and so on.
It is the practical, probably quite cheap compared to military costs, implementation of policies and programmes for the improved livelihoods of women and girls in the educational institutions around the world.
This will require the abovementioned analysis of efficacy prior to firm decision of a policy or program. Indeed, there can, and should, be a set of trial programs with a search as the most efficacious programs on offer.
Then to do a comparative analysis of the different cultural implementations around the world, the ones working the best in a particular nation or region, or around the world, should be the programs of choice.
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- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Preamble, Article 16, and Article 25(2).
- Convention Against Discrimination in Education (1960) in Article 1.
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) in Article 3, Article 7, and Article 13.
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966).
- Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979).
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984).
- The Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (1993).
- Beijing Declaration(1995).
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000).
- Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2000).
- The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa or the “Maputo Protocol” (2003).
- Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence or the Istanbul Convention (2011) Article 38 and Article 39.
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Photo by Analise Benevides on Unsplash