Two humanitarian groups are making a difference for young girls in Nepal. Room to Read, a foundation building libraries around the world has partnered with the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program to bring computers to school-aged children in Nepal.

Girls in Nepal often drop out of school around age 12. Many are forced into child marriage as early as age 15, even though the legal age is 18. The initial program launch will reach 350 students, mostly from poor communities. Although the computers will benefit both girls and boys equally, many hope this program will empower young girls to stay in school.

“Access to online resources and educational materials can have a life-changing impact on students,” Room to Read program partner Paul Jacobs said.

“Not only will they have connectivity that enables access to learning materials and communities for the first time, they will also have the opportunity to gain specialized skills and training.”

Since 1999, Room to Read has constructed over 2,000 libraries all over the world. The One Laptop Per Children initiative was created in 1995 and presented at the World Economic Forum by MIT computer designer Nicholas Negroponte in 2005. Since its proposal, OLPC has been successfully implemented in Uruguayan communities

Learn more about Room to Read and One Laptop Per Child here.

Nepal: New computer learning brings girls empowerment and education- Women’s News Network WNN

In a recent article from the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, journalist Neda Shukur calls attention to the efforts of women leaders in Baghdad to improve struggling education systems in the war-torn nation. Female provincial councilors, who comprise 11 posts of the 57-member council elected in February, are uniting from various political parties on the issue of education reform, urging that the comprehensive improvement of national education systems be a top priority of the administrative body.

Mahdia Abdulhussein, a former teacher, grew so frustrated with the condition of schools in Baghdad that she ran for a seat in the provincial council, and won, with the central aim of advocating for reform initiatives to address “outdated curricula, the high drop out rate, and the deteriorating quality of education in Baghdad.” Abdulhussein serves on the council’s education and civil society committees, where she presses for “improved services and security in schools,” as well as “guaranteeing electricity for three hours and providing transport and clean drinking water for students.”

Overcrowded and crumbling school buildings often place the burdens of inadequate funding and a lack of infrastructure directly on students’ shoulders. Arabic teacher Nisrin Hadi Jawad explained in an interview that students in some schools have “cleaning classes,” during which they do the work of absent janitorial staff “due to salary budget shortfalls.”

The 11 female councilors have reportedly “had to battle for respect in politics as they did in the workplace,” struggling to shrug off prejudice and the perception that they are less qualified “because they came to power under a quota system that was supposed to set aside 25 percent of seats for female candidates.” With only 11 seats, women make up nearly 20 percent of the council, and despite differences in politics, have banded together by sharing “the same goals,” the most prominent of which is reforming education systems within Iraq.

Baghdad Women Leaders Fight for Education-Institute of War and Peace Reporting

Rekha Kalindi defied convention at 13, refusing marriage and demanding an education instead. Her story and conviction has been brought to the national stage in India, with newspapers “hailing her for accomplishing change that the Indian government was incapable of making,” as ABC News reports. A child laborer until two years ago, when a government non-profit initiative introduced Kalindi to schooling, she has benefited from the leadership skills and instruction she has received through her education. ABC News explains that “it was from these leadership classes that Rekha gained the strength to defy her family, her village, and change her future.”

An inadequately enforced Child Marriage Prohibition Act sets the legal age of marriage at 21 for boys and 18 for girls, yet families often practice child marriage as a means of easing the financial burden of daughters. This was the case when Kalindi’s parents removed her from school in preparation for her marriage; when their daughter refused, they were shocked and insisted that the marriage would be carried out. Kalindi then enlisted the help of “teachers, classmates and a government official,” all of whom were moved by her resistance and marched to her family home to ask that her parents reconsider, which they did.

The Project Director of a regional National Child Labor Project comments on the significance of Kalindi’s bravery:

“Being within that community and being from such a poor family, a tiny girl, is thinking of setting her own future and own destiny by her own will. That is unthinkable previously.”

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In the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) State of the World’s Children 2009 report, findings show that early marriage is pervasive in Bangladesh, with 64 percent of girls married before age 18, as IRIN News reports. Early pregnancy often results from early marriage –one-third of girls aged 15 to 19 in Bangladesh are currently either mothers or pregnant. These teenage mothers are reportedly twice as likely to die from pregnancy or child-birth complications. Further, research shows that “the risk of maternal mortality could be five times higher for mothers aged 10 to 14 than for those aged 20 to 24, as IRIN explains.

Though the legal marriage age in Bangladesh is 21 for boys, 18 for girls, findings from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey indicate that the median age for marriage of girls is 16.4 years. Concerns that dowry prices will increase as age increases often provoke parents to encourage early marriage, for it is seen as a way to reduce the financial burden that daughters are perceived to pose.

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In Saudi Arabia, societal pressures and government regulations often largely determine a woman’s personal life.

According to Jalal Ghazi of New America Media, women who do not get married by a certain age are labeled ‘a’wanes’. The term, which holds a negative connotation, lessens a woman’s chances for marriage. The age at which women are deemed a’wanes varies by society, with more liberal Arab societies tending to attach the label to older women than their conservative counterparts, but the effect is the same.

In Saudi Arabia, 30 percent of women were considered a’wanes in 2006, according to Ghazi. But Saudi women face much more than just social pressure. Saudi Arabia has no age requirement for marriage, and, while most versions of Sharia require the consent of a female for marriage, the Hanbali interpretation of Sharia practiced in Saudi Arabia allows a father to issue a marriage contract despite the will of his daughter. This leaves young women vulnerable to their fathers’ desires and permits prepubescent girls to be married off. The issue gained prominence in 2008 when an eight-year-old Saudi girl was forced to marry a man in his 50s so her father could pay off his debt.

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South Asia Director of UNICEF Daniel Toole recently expressed concern as families in Afghanistan become increasingly fearful of sending their young daughters to school while anti-government and Taliban attacks on education centers are pronounced.  With dismay and uneasiness, Toole reported that the state of education for girls was “probably worse now than a year ago…reversing a trend of improvements over the last few years.”  He added, reflectively, “In general, the situation is so much better than three or four years ago…we have to recognize that.”  UNICEF estimates that there are 1.7 million girls presently enrolled in schools across Afghanistan, while only 18% of Afghan women can read and write.  Taliban rule from 1996-2001 had imposed a comprehensive ban on the education of all girls, and though laudable progress has been made, there remains a significant, marginalized effort to move forward on universal education for all Afghan children.  Vital Voices will monitor this developing situation of an arrant abuse of the basic human right to education, recognizing that the education of young girls is integral to the progress of a larger movement for the actualization of human rights.

Attacks threaten gains to Afghan girls’ education: U.N. -Reuters

LA Times writes:

Back when Maria Bello was majoring in peace and justice studies at Villanova, she may have dreamed that she’d one day be a successful actress, but it’s hard to believe she ever imagined she’d one day help bring together an unprecedented summit of Africa’s first ladies.

That’s exactly what will occur Monday and Tuesday, when more than 20 of Africa’s first ladies will be in town to discuss a range of health and women’s rights issues that continue to obstruct development in their countries.

Bello — along with a number of other leading actresses — will help get the event off to a star-laden start as she joins California First Lady Maria Shriver at a welcoming luncheon at the Westside’s Skirball Cultural Center. Bello’s role in the summit is part of her long-standing interest in African issues, especially those that touch on the welfare of women.

Read the full article - LA Times

A few months ago I read an interview with Madeline Albright about how she thinks that women today have a better, but more complicated, life when trying to balance everything they want to achieve. She said, “There’s a place in Hell reserved for women who don’t help other women.” We all have a hard enough life as it is. Women do not need to make it even more difficult for each other; that is unforgivable.

This Sunday, while we were eating breakfast with our 8-year-old daughter and her friend, I overheard:
“I wish I was a boy.”
“Yeah, me too,” answered the other, “it would be so much easier to pee, and pick out your clothes, that’s so much easier for boys.”
“Yeah, and there would be some jobs that we wouldn’t have to do.”

“Oh yeah, like what?” I asked, curiously. “Have you ever seen a male nanny?” asked one - Translator’s note: In Latin America nannies are exclusively women. And that was what started our conversation about traditional roles for men and women. They told me how, in their young minds, they thought it was harder to be a woman. I tried to enlighten them on how lucky they were to be women, about how wonderful it is to be a mother, and about the almost unlimited options they have today professionally. Continue Reading »

John Kerry, Senator and Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee made strong comments yesterday on women and US government policy.

“…from the Oval Office to the State Department to the Senate, women across the world have more champions in American government than ever before. This wave of women’s advocates arrive in Washington not a moment too soon. Today, the globe is being roiled daily by an unfolding economic crisis. It’s up to all of us to ensure that this economic crisis does not become a global women’s crisis, too.”

Read Senator Kerry’s full statement.

Today, President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order to establish the White House Council on Women and Girls.

Remarks by the President at the Signing Of an Executive Order Creating the White House Council on Women And Girls:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. Well, today, as we continue our celebration of International Women’s History Month, I’m proud to sign this executive order establishing the women’s — the White House Council on Women and Girls. It’s a Council with a mission that dates back to our founding: to fulfill the promise of our democracy for all our people.

I sign this order not just as a President, but as a son, a grandson, a husband, and a father, because growing up, I saw my mother put herself through school and follow her passion for helping others. But I also saw how she struggled to raise me and my sister on her own, worrying about how she’d pay the bills and educate herself and provide for us. Continue Reading »