No girl should be deprived the right to education: deputy rights chief

The realization of the right to education is essential to women being able to enjoy their full range of human rights.

girls right to education

That’s what deputy human rights chief Ms. Kyung-wha Kang told the Human Rights Council’s annual discussion on the rights of women in Geneva Monday. She says “women’s exclusion from education and participation intersect with other problems, such as discriminatory patterns in ownership and exploitation of land, dispossession and forced eviction, and right to inheritance.”

She says it’s vital to apply the principles and standards of the Convention on the Eliminations of All forms of Discrimination against Women which, among other things, aims to eliminate discrimination in the field of education.

” Yet, the persistence of entrenched traditional attitudes continues to hold women and girls back in education, depriving them of the skills and knowledge to access the labour market, decision-making and participation in political and public life. As a result, women represent only a small fraction of elected officials in most countries. Today, only 25 countries have more than 30% female representation in parliament.”

Deputy human right chief Kyung- wa Kang says even fewer women are in leadership positions in politics or occupy executive positions in business, trade unions, higher education, the judiciary or military.

Donn Bobb, United Nations Radio.

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