Educating Women = Eradicating Poverty

In many poor countries the role of women is very different to that of men.  While men are the head of the family and generally seen as dominant and having a higher stature in that local culture and society, women are responsible for the family and are regarded as somewhat the property of the men. 

The prospects of these women is grim, with no opportunity to move up the social hierarchy and with a life tied to their biological reproductive cycle, subjugation to their husbands seems assured.

Education can break this cycle.  

With education, women can learn how to be in control of their reproductive cycle, reducing family size and giving women the independence to make life choices. 

Education can give them the opportunity to compete in the workplace.  Education can reduce disease and child mortality.  

Education empowers women to make their own decisions and become the social equals of their male counterparts.

So how do we bring education to women who live in poverty? 

SIDA, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency identified 5 ways in which to bring education to women in less developed countries:

• Reducing opportunity costs to girls’ schooling, e.g. through childcare provision or investment in labour saving infrastructure, or flexible or non-formal educational provision;

• Incentives and scholarships for girls’ enrolment to reduce the direct costs of girls’ schooling;

• Educational initiatives outside of the schooling system, such as adult education and literacy programmes, for those who ‘missed out’;

• Improving the quality of education and tackling gender bias in the curriculum;

• Non-education sector policies to tackle discrimination, e.g. in labour and financial markets, which prevent women from realising the returns to educational investment.

At Edz Threadz, we believe that our plan can turn these recommendations into reality and help make poverty a thing of the past.

Educate Girls, Eradicate Poverty - A Mutually Reinforcing Goal
http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2010/empoweringwomen/educategirlserradicatepoverty

Education and Poverty: A Gender Analysis
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports/re53.pdf

The Straight Facts on Women in Poverty
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/report/2008/10/08/5103/the-straight-facts-on-women-in-poverty/

Speeches On Girl's Education and Poverty Eradication
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_11986.html

Posted by William Zawadski