Partnership Is Power - Women And Men For Gender Equality Unesco's Commitment To Gender Equality - Brief Article

WIN News, Spring, 2000

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO) 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, FRANCE

CONTENTS:

"Preface // Introduction // I. Sharing the Power of Knowledge: Education: the gateway to equality and change // Lifelong education for all // Non-formal education // Formal education // Education of a Sustainable Future // Mainstreaming gender in education policies and delivery systems // II. Speaking Up and Participating: Empowerment through communication and networking // Culture and development // III. Co-Deciding for a Better Future: Human rights and democracy // Women and a culture of peace // Reconceptualization of urban development // A new commitment in science // Protecting the environment // IV. Institutional Set Up: Policy revision // Sensitisation.

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

More than half the world's population are women and girls, and yet we continue to live in a predominantly 'men's world.' While in many families, and even in some societies and countries, women may be the main (or even the sole) bread-winner and decision-maker, economic and political life, nationally and globally, are still dominated by men's perceptions, priorities, values and decisions.

The fact that women's domestic work (from taking care of the family to work in the field or in family business) is ignored by national budgets and, therefore, by the international accounting mechanisms, is an eloquent illustration of this. In many societies the birth of a girl-child is accompanied by disappointment and a sense of shame, while a male-child is a source of pride and celebration. The girls that make it through infancy are often the first to be deprived of even the most elementary schooling, being sacrificed to the never-ending household chores[ldots]

[ldots]the most recent statistics show that some three billion people, (half the world's population) live in poverty, with less than two US dollars per day. Of these, more than 1.3 billion people live in 'absolute poverty,' (i.e. on less than one US dollar a day). Seventy percent of these poor are women and girls[ldots] To eradicate poverty, denounce social injustice and ensure human dignity for all, are the fundamental tasks which UNESCO addresses daily in its fields of competence, (in education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture and communication). In each domain particular attention is given to women's empowerment.

To empower women means, in the first place, to help them acquire the knowledge, information and tools that they need in order to participate, on an equal footing with men, in all matters and at all levels of social action, but above all in decision and policy-making structures and processes. This is an essential requirement that UNESCO addresses in various ways, as illustrated by the examples given in this publication.

BEYOND SEXUAL STEREOTYPES

The decades-long efforts of numerous women's and other organizations, governments, the United Nations system, and other international organizations, to bring attitudes and behaviour towards women and girls in line with the fundamental principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, have borne positive results in many parts of the world[ldots]

This immense movement forward, however, in some parts of the world is just beginning, while in certain countries it is threatened outright by religious fundamentalists or by the general dismantling of the social and political system[ldots]

A NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT UNESCO

At the World Conference on Science for the Twenty-First Century: A New Commitment organized by UNESCO and the International Council of Scientific Unions in Budapest (June 1999), women scientists from all over the world spoke out forcefully, thanks to the concerted action of UNESCO, UNIFEM, a number of Member-States and several non-governmental organizations[ldots]

What can UNESCO do to help women become equal partners in the conceptualisation and materialisation of a new social contract? Providing education at all levels remains a key necessity and a top priority.

In addition two basic lines of action are already evolving: one focuses on creating a variety of tools that help empower women and/or help apply gender mainstreaming; the other aims at helping women articulate alternative visions of development, and develop strategies and/or methods of achieving this[ldots]including assisting women in creating and/or strengthening their networks for exchange of information and cooperation. A wide range of networks are currently being initiated or reinforced in all fields of UNESCO's competence[ldots]

What follows is a selection of current or recently completed activities that illustrate UNESCO's approach to the advancement of women and gender equality[ldots]"