Education top priority to address poverty for women and girls

16/05/2011 10:39:00

The British public wants access to education for more women and girls to be the top priority (24%) for the new agency, UN Women, to help end poverty, a new YouGov survey commissioned by international development charity, VSO, has found.

The results come as the head of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, makes her first official visit to Britain and eagerly awaits a funding commitment from the UK Government.

According to the British public, other top priorities for UN Women to help end poverty should be: making Governments ensure women are protected by laws and can receive justice through the courts (22%) and helping end violence against women (19%).

VSO has been lobbying for the new UN agency for three years to address the stark discrepancies in poverty, human rights and violence that disproportionately affect women and girls across the developing world. UN Women opened its doors in January.

VSO Chief Executive Officer Marg Mayne says access to education helps lift not only women and girls from poverty, but entire communities.

“VSO is helping 14 million children globally receive a better education. There is strong evidence that a one-year increase in schooling for a woman, increases her family’s income. Women are also more likely than men to spend their money on their children’s education and nutrition, creating more opportunities for their children. However, many women and girls’ life opportunities continue to be limited by a lack of access to education, justice systems and opportunities and the risk of violence.”

UN Women will also be working to increase the involvement of women in politics and decision-making. The majority of British people (51%) believed a greater involvement of women in Middle Eastern politics and decision-making would lead to more chance of long-term stability in the region.

“Across the world, on average, just one in five parliamentarians are women, limiting the voice and influence of women and girls. This survey shows that the UK public rightly views women as playing a crucial role in political stability and democracy. We have seen this most positively in Rwanda where women have had greater involvement in politics after a conflict and experienced a long period of stability, rebuilding and delivered greater opportunities for women and girls including access to education,” Ms Mayne said.

Ms Mayne says UN Women is a once in a generation opportunity to deliver real change for women and girls across the world, however its success hinges on funding.

“We commend the UK Government in its verbal commitment to put women and girls and the centre of its aid work. We look forward to the Secretary of State announcing how much it will fund UN Women. Currently the agency faces a significant funding shortfall and needs at least £21 million from the UK to help it get to work. This is just half the funds the UK Government allocates to the highly effective children’s agency UNICEF.”

Statistics:

• Among women aged between 15 and 44, acts of violence cause more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined.
• Women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, produce 50 percent of the food, but earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property.
UN Women has received funding from a number of leading countries including Spain, Australia and Canada, but is awaiting a commitment from the UK.

Editor's notes

Media contact: Rachel Trayner on rachel.trayner@vso.org.uk, 0208 780 7265, 07738982122

Total sample size was 3460 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken by YouGov between 10th - 12th May 2011.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

Results
51 per cent of people thought a greater involvement of women in Middle Eastern politics and decision-making would lead to more chance of long-term stability in the region.
• 28 per cent did not believe it would make a difference
• 6 per cent thought it would lead to less chance of stability (8% males verses 4% females)
• 16 per cent didn’t know.

About VSO
VSO is the leading international development charity that works through volunteers. Since 1958 more than 44,000 volunteers have worked in more than 120 countries. Today there are over 1600 international volunteers working in 42 countries around the world.