Tag: UNESCO

Lens on inclusion to measure the global improvements in education

Posted on by Nate Radomski

COVER

At the end of last week, the UNESCO GEM (Global Education Monitoring) Report’s Advisory Board met in Paris to discuss the success of the 2016 GEM Report, hear about the plans for the 2017/8 and 2019 GEM Reports, and decide on the future theme of the 2020 GEM Report. A consensus was reached on the theme: Inclusion and Education.

The desire to leave no one behind permeates the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Two of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) are dedicated to addressing inclusion: A goal on gender equality and empowerment of all girls and women (SDG 5) and one on reducing disparities between and within countries (SDG 10). There is also an unprecedented global commitment to using disaggregated data to monitor gaps and inequalities, in education and other sectors. Disaggregated information is critical to identifying populations who never exercised their right to education, who left school before completing a full cycle, and who did not succeed in acquiring key foundational and transferable skills.

The GEM Report has long taken an equity, pro-inclusive perspective when monitoring progress towards global education goals. Our team has shown that the poorest children are four times more likely to be out of primary school than the richest children. An estimated one-third of all out-of-school children at the primary level have a disability. Aggregated analysis from 51 countries found a 10 percentage point gap in primary completion rates between people with and without disability, which is likely an underestimate. About 40% of people around the world are not taught in a language they speak or understand.

In 2010 the GEM Report established the World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE) to highlight countries that are adversely affected, and through what processes, in order to contribute to policy formulation and resource allocation. Data from this source show the extent to which disadvantage and marginalization undermine success in education progress. They indicate how overlapping disadvantages sometimes create almost unsurmountable barriers for those trying to learn at school or university or through adult training and education programs.

We know that if current policies remain in place, all groups will not enjoy the benefits of education by 2030. New strategies and policies must be adopted to ensure access to the 263 million children, adolescents and youth who are out of primary and secondary school; the 758 million adults lacking basic literacy and numeracy skills; and the millions more who, despite having been to school, experienced little improvement in their learning levels and employment prospects.

This post was adapted from the GEM Report blogsite

 

May 21st: World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

Posted on by Nate Radomski

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[Photo courtesy of www.nextbillion.net]

May 21st is the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development and, on this occasion, our partners at Entreculturas-Fe y Alegría Spain offer an educational resource oriented to learning from indigenous cultures how to interact with nature and to discover that in our day to day we can incorporate actions of care and commitment to the Earth.

Three out of four conflicts in the world have a cultural dimension. Overcoming cultural divisions is urgent and necessary for peace, stability and development. Culture, in its rich diversity, has an intrinsic value both for development and peace as well as social cohesion.

Cultural diversity is a driving force for development, not only regarding economic growth, but as a way of achieving an enriching intellectual, affective, moral and spiritual life. This is made evident through the Treaties on culture, which provide a solid base for the promotion of cultural diversity.

Simultaneously, recognising cultural diversity- through an innovative use of the media and ICTs in particular- generates dialogue between civilizations and cultures, contributing to the promotion of respect and mutual comprehension.

The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity was adopted in 2001 and then, the United Nations General Assembly declared the May 21st the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, through the 57/249 resolution in December of 2002.

Coffee cultivated by Tzeltal indigenous families in the northern jungle of Chiapas, Mexico

Capeltic is a social economy and solidarity company formed by Tzeltal indigenous families from Chiapas and collaborators that work for social justice and the defense of the territory, generating social property and business efficiency.

The Tzeltal community is part of the Mayan family. They are currently the largest indigenous group in Chiapas. Like many other indigenous groups in Mexico, and throughout the world, Tzeltal communities have been historically subjected to structures of domination and impoverishment, which is the reason why, throughout the years, they have had to organise to resist and recover the property and the fate of their territory.

The most important activity for this community is small, familiar and diversified agriculture: they produce corn, beans, squash, and chili, and they include commercial crops such as coffee. As many other families, production schemes are for self-consumption, so crop diversity is essential to ensure their harvest is strong and avoid dependence on a single product.

The work of Capeltic and Yomol A’tel in the Tzeltal territory has its origins in the Jesuit Mission in Bachajón, which, since 1958, has accompanied the resistance of 600 communities in the Selva Norte region of Chiapas.

This Tzeltal communities in the Selva Norte region of Chiapas currently grow 100% organic coffee that, with a lot of work and meticulous care, arrives at the Capeltic cafés, an economic and social way to take control of the destiny of their territory.

This initiative was created after the Tzeltal producers considered unfair the profits they received when selling their coffee (the price was determined by the economic fluctuations of the American stock market and the interests of the intermediaries). Therefore, they organized themselves to seek a comprehensive alternative: add value to their coffee, ally with intermediaries who shared their philosophy of respect for the environment and to create cafés (usually located in the universities of the cities) in which they could sell their product at a fair price, raising awareness and transmitting their values to society.

The goal of this project is to become a reference in quality and social participation in different points of sale, with the intention of contributing to fair and dignified work for small indigenous producers and their families, and to become a cooperative and intercultural space that promotes positive relationships in the community it serves. The efforts are concentrated in changing the power relationships that currently affect Tzeltal families and the urban context of the families they work with.

These kind of initiatives are key to promoting the defense of human rights and the rich diversity of the indigenous communities’ culture .

March 8th – Skilled women: the pathway to equity

Posted on by Nate Radomski

Although there have been many advances in a lot of countries throughout the last years; women still suffer gender discrimination since childhood. UNESCO points out that the 53% girls of 61 million minors cannot access to primary education[1], despite the continuous improvement of the gender parity in the access to education.

It has been achieved the 97% of girls schooled in pre-schools everywhere, excepting East Asia and Pacific region. However, differences are bigger in secondary education. In fact, only 1 of 4 countries had the same number of girls and boys enrolled in the upper secondary education in 2014 and two thirds of 758 million adult illiteracy people are women.

Girls have to deal with several obstacles in order to access to school and continue into it. Some of these obstacles, such as poverty, child marriage, early pregnancy and domestic work are insurmountable. Armed conflicts reinforce the gender inequality: girls double the possibilities to be out of school in comparison with boys. Displacements of boys, girls and families from their houses weaken the protection mechanisms and these families has no more choice but looking for survival strategies, such as the child marriage or the domestic work, putting girls and young people in disadvantaged positions.

Keeping girls and young people in schools is very hard sometimes, according to the data provided. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the 75% of girls starts the primary school but only the 8% finishes the secondary school.

However, the education of girls, besides a widely recognized human right and a matter of justice, provides a lot of benefits to their lives and the lives of their families, communities and countries. The girls who remain into the school more time, get married later, have less children, gain more money and can resist better the gender violence[2]. An added year in school, boost the salary of women by 12%[3].

Maternal and child mortality reduces by 15% when mothers have studied in primary education and by 49% when they have studied in secondary education. These women have less risks of contracting VHI or malaria. Their children have more chances to benefit a proper nutrition and go to school.

However, to achieve all this, it is crucial to assure a quality and equitable education to all the girls, by putting into practice the necessary and proper political measures and increasing the investment in education. It is necessary to reduce the distance and the time they spend to go to school and the way have to be safe. Schools must have tap water and toilets for boys and girls.

It is essential to keep a balance of equality among women and men who teach and improve their salaries and training. In a Fe y Alegría project about gender equality promotion the teacher Dina Carpio points out: “I’ve learned to recognize children have rights and they have to be respected. I know now girls and boys are equal and they can do the same things without discrimination”[4]. It is also important to involve communities and families in the education, remove costs in education and make legislative and awareness changes to eliminate the child marriage and to reduce the early pregnancies[5].

A few months ago was the anniversary of the signing up of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda in the United Nations Summit, a guide of a task list during the next years to eliminate poverty, inequality and to achieve a sustainable development. There is a Goal specially focused in education (SDG4) and another one focused in gender equality (SDG5). Both of them complement each other, as mentioned before, and they are crucial to the achievement of the rest of Goals and ultimately, to the achievement of a more peaceful, innovative, fairer and sustainable world.

You can support one of our projects involving skilled women now.

https://magisamericas.org/proyectos/strengthening-skills-among-uruguayan-youth/

https://magisamericas.org/proyectos/15ecu001-vocational-training-equipment-in-guayaquil/

 

[1] UNESCO y UNGEI (2015). Gender and EFA 2000_2015: achievements and challenges.

[2] Entreculturas (2011). Las niñas a clase: una cuestión de justicia. Accesible en. https://www.entreculturas.org/files/documentos/estudios_e_informes/Las%20nin%C2%A6%C3%A2as%20a%20clase.pdf?download

2] Malala Fund. What works in Girls’ Education: https://www.malala.org/brookings-report/the-worlds-best-investment-girls-education.

[3] Lloyd, C. B. (2013). “Education for Girls: Alternative Pathways to Girls’ Empowerment.” Integrated Approaches to Improving the Lives of Adolescent Girls Issue Paper Series. GirlEect.org.

[4] UNESCO.Gender Review, Global Monitoring Report, 2016