YUGA: Gender Discrimination
YEA enewsletter: February 2010
In This Issue
Gender Discrimination
Facts about Gender Discrimination
Child Marriage
What do Plan Youth, the UN Secretary General and Queen Rania of Jordan have in common?
What You Can Do
"Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance."
- Kofi Annan
Gender Discrimination
The roles, rights and responsibilities that communities consider suitable for girls, boys, women and men are socially constructed. Gender-based discrimination stems from the set of assumptions formed by various cultures based upon the biological differences between males and females.
Many efforts have been made around the world to end discrimination against girls and women. There is still a lot of work to be done, though. This is not only a human rights issue but also an economic one. It is impossible for any nation to reach its potential when it ignores the positive contributions that can be made by half of its population.
Gender discrimination exists in many forms. Women and girls around the world are frequently denied access to an equal education, to employment, to property rights and to financial resources. Violence is an additional way that women are discriminated against.
Learn More: Read Nazma's story of defying the odds in Bangladesh!
“I do believe that a woman who is denied an education is denied equality. And it is no coincidence that countries where women are well-educated are far more likely to be prosperous… I am convinced that our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons.”
- Barack Obama, President of the United States, 4 June 2009, Cairo, Egypt
Facts about Gender Discrimination
- 70% of the people living on less than $1 a day are female.
- 50% of sexual assaults worldwide are against girls under 15.
- In Africa, children whose mothers have at least 5 years of education are 40% more likely to live over the age of 5.
- Only 1/3 of countries have equal numbers of girls and boys enrolling in school.
- 82 million girls now 10 to 17 will be married before their 18th birthday.
- 65 middle and low income countries are missing an estimated $92 billion dollars in GDP because girls are not educated to equal standards as boys.
Find more in the Because I am a Girl reports.
Child Marriage
There are an estimated 60 million brides in the world that are still children. Some are as young as seven years old and have not yet reached puberty. Many of these marriages are due to poverty. A young bride can bring in a bride price that will help to feed, clothe, house and educate the rest of her family. Many young girls are forced to leave their families in order to be with her husband and bear his children. Married girls:
- Are likely to have less education and fewer schooling opportunities than unmarried girls
- Have less mobility than unmarried girls or older married women
- Have less household and economic power than older married women
- Have less exposure to the media than unmarried girls
- Have limited social networks
- May be at greater risk of gender-based violence than women who marry later
- Face greater reproductive health risks than unmarried women and married young women who have already had a child
Congress is considering a new bill that would give the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) more power to work with countries around the world to fight child marriage.
But as Congress gets closer to deciding whether it will pass legislation that could vastly assist our efforts to end this practice – we can't leave a single vote to chance. Take action!
What do Plan Youth, the UN Secretary General and Queen Rania of Jordan have in common?
They will all be in attendance at the 54th Session on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)! The CSW will be held during the first two weeks of March at the UN in NY. The CSW is an annual conference that brings together NGO's, UN member states, experts and interested parties to discuss the issues of girls and women and gender equality. Plan’s focus will be on promoting the Because I am a Girl (BIG) reports, sharing our expertise in girl child issues and facilitating opportunities for youth to engage in high level discussions.
A key feature of this year’s session is the evaluation and celebration of the progress achieved towards gender equality on the 15th Anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action. The Beijing Platform for Action was established in 1995 with a focus on the "girl child" and the unique obstacles and discrimination they face on the basis of their gender and age. In 1995, 198 UN Member States adopted a plan and an agenda for "women's political and economic empowerment and the foundations for gender mainstreaming."
The three goals Plan will be highlighting are:
- The elimination of negative cultural practices and attitudes against girls.
- The promotion of girls’ awareness of and their participation in economic life.
- Maintaining State interest and engagement on girls’ issues.
Stay tuned to the website for updates, news and stories. Be sure to participate in your own way by following the Session on the webpage and checking out blogs from the youth about their unique two week experience: http://www.planusa.org/csw!
What You Can Do
Learn More! Read up on facts and stories about girls around the world in the Girls Reports!
Explore! Watch Plan videos about our work with girls and gender discrimination, and videos from the voices of girls globally on Plan International's YouTube Channel!
Challenge! Take YUGA's Facebook Know It All Challenge on gender discrimination! Don't forget to challenge your friends and show off your skills!
Join! Learn more about YUGA and how to create your own YUGA group! YUGA is a great way to meet new people and talk with others about issues affecting the world today. You and your friends are the future, and by being aware of world matters, you will help to make a better future.
