[child-rights] UNICEF to pick up pace on Girls' Education

Press Release
Major Campaign to Get Girls into School in 25 Priority Countries

DAR ES SAALAM / GENEVA, 3 December 2002 - Declaring that "the
education of girls is key to real progress in overcoming poverty,"
UNICEF today announced a major initiative to get girls into school in
25 priority countries, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

Speaking to a meeting of African education ministers here, UNICEF
Executive Director Carol Bellamy announced the "25 by 2005" campaign
to eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education.
The campaign, which includes 15 countries in Africa, focuses on
countries where girls are furthest behind - and where progress would
make a real impact. Bellamy said UNICEF is prepared to do whatever is
necessary to help the countries meet the goal of gender equality in
education by 2005.

"It is our commitment that no girl will be left behind as her country
attempts to move forward, and that every girl will be educated to
assume her rightful place as an agent in her country's development,"
Bellamy told the ministers. She spoke at the opening session of the
eighth conference of Ministers of Education of African Member States
(MINEDAF VIII), being held in Dar es Saalam through 6 December.

The Millennium Development Goals agreed to by all the Member States
of the United Nations have set 2005 as the first milestone, seeking
to end gender disparities in primary and secondary education by the
end of that year.

Bellamy warned that failure to achieve credible progress toward the
goals is a threat to human development. "Any delay will only
perpetuate entrenched inequities and condemn yet another generation
of children to a life of poverty, dependence, and unfulfilled
possibility," Bellamy said.

UNICEF will work closely with national governments and other partners
to identify girls who are not in school in the 25 countries. In each
country, UNICEF will work with the government to mobilize new
resources, build broad national consensus about the need to get girls
in school, and help improve schools themselves to make them more
welcoming to girls.

UNICEF said the lessons learned in the 25 by 2005 campaign over the
next two years will be applied to accelerating girls' education in
other countries until all children - girls and boys - enjoy their
right to a quality basic education.

UNICEF said it had chosen a manageable number of countries and based
its selection on criteria that looked for countries with one or more
of the following: low enrolment rates for girls; gender gaps of more
than 10% in primary education enrolment; countries with more than 1
million girls out of school; and countries hard hit by a range of
crises that affect schooling opportunities for girls, such as
HIV/AIDS and conflict.

The following countries are targeted for the campaign:

1. Afghanistan
2. Bangladesh
3. Benin
4. Bhutan
5. Bolivia
6. Burkina Faso
7. Central African Republic
8. Chad
9. Congo (DRC)
10. Dijibouti
11. Eritrea
12. Ethiopia
13. Guinea
14. India
15. Malawi
16. Mali
17. Nepal
18. Nigeria
19. Pakistan
20. Papua New Guinea
21. Sudan
22. Tanzania
23. Turkey
24. Yemen
25. Zambia

The majority of these countries are in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region
with one of the most pronounced gender gaps in enrolment and home to
50 million out-of-school children, including 27 million girls.
Despite progress in girls' enrolment in the last ten years, glaring
gender disparities persist in many of the selected African countries.

Bellamy underscored the importance of focusing on girls, noting that
the numbers and proportions of girls out of school present a "human
rights tragedy and a downward spiral in development."

Why Girls

Of the 120 million children who never go to school, the majority are
girls. An even greater majority of those who get some schooling but
do not reach the fifth grade are girls. Girls - more often than boys
- are denied opportunities to go to school in times of crisis and
instability. In many countries cultural gender bias and domestic
demands keep girls at home and out of the classroom.

UNICEF advocates for investment in girls' education as an entryway
for all children to fulfil their right to a quality basic education.
A singular focus on getting girls into school works to bring down the
barriers that keep all children out of school. Moreover, when girls
are educated they are more likely to ensure the education and health
of their own children - a cyclical effect of enormous importance.

Held on average every five years, the MINEDAF conferences make a
critical assessment of educational policies and practices in Africa
and recommend strategic action.

The conference of African Education Ministers follows on the heels of
the five-day Forum of African Parliamentarians for Education, a
consultation of African lawmakers aimed at solving problems facing
education in Africa, also held in Dar es Salaam.

Carol Bellamy's visit to Tanzania is her second-to-last stop on a
five-nation tour she began on 17 November. Bellamy is in Africa to
spotlight a series of major issues confronting children on the
continent and around the world, including child immunization rates,
children orphaned by AIDS, the education gap affecting girls, and the
growing drought crisis in the Horn of Africa. She continues to
Ethiopia to visit drought-affected regions on 4 December.

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For further information, please contact:

Alfred Ironside, UNICEF Media, New York (212) 326-7261
Afefa Nyuidzi, UNICEF Media, Dar es Saalam (225-742) 76 72 86