WOM/1840
'To Plan for a Day, Catch a Fish; to Plan for a Year, Plant Rice; to Plan
For a Decade, Plant a Tree; to Plan for a Lifetime, Educate a Girl,' Meeting Hears
While the last year had seen significant efforts to improve women's status around the world - including the landmark creation of the United Nations new gender entity, UN Women - the global report card was decidedly mixed, but investment in girls' education could propel both economic growth and women's equality, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today, as she opened the fifty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
During the Commission's two-week session, delegations would work to agree on priority actions to address persistent obstacles to implementing the landmark 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which provide a blueprint for improving women's opportunities worldwide. The day featured two parallel high-level round table discussions under the session's main theme of "Access and participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women's equal access to full employment and decent work".
In opening remarks, Ms. Migiro said two thirds of illiterate adults were women, a statistic that had not changed in 20 years. Global commitments to achieving universal primary education and gender parity at all levels of schooling had improved girls' enrolment and retention rates in many countries. However, the quality of education had not kept pace, particularly in poor countries, where many children left school without basic literacy and mathematics skills. The Commission could help "connect the dots" among the issues affecting women's prospects, and she urged delegates to shine a spotlight on areas of concern.
Agreeing, Michelle Bachelet, the first Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment - UN Women - underlined the enormous responsibility shared by that new body, the Commission and the global community in the quest for gender equality. "Discrimination and inequality are the problem; women are part of the solution," she declared, stressing that women's potential must be tapped to create a better future. Frank analysis was needed about the myriad challenges countries faced today.