From DEBRA@OLN.comlink.apc.orgSat Sep 23 09:32:52 1995 Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 08:54:00 +0100 From: Debra Guzman Reply to: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org To: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org Subject: WCW: Beijing Declaration part 6 [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] ## author : dpcsd@tempo.undp.org ## date : 21.09.95 ****************************************************************************** This document has been made available in electronic format by the United Nations. Reproduction and dissemination of the document - in electronic and/or printed format - is encouraged, provided acknowledgement is made of the role of the United Nations in making it available. ****************************************************************************** UNITED NATIONS FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN Beijing, China 4-15 September 1995 * ADVANCE UNEDITED DRAFT * Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace Beijing, 15 September 1995 Strategic objective B.3. Improve women's access to vocational training, science and technology, and continuing education Actions to be taken 84. By Governments, in cooperation with employers, workers and trade unions, international and non-governmental organizations, including women's and youth organizations, and educational institutions: (a) Develop and implement education, training and retraining policies for women, especially young women and women re- entering the labour market, to provide skills to meet the needs of a changing socio-economic context for improving their employment opportunities; (b) Provide recognition to non-formal educational opportunities for girls and women in the educational system; (c) Provide information to women and girls on the availability and benefits of vocational training, training programmes in science and technology and programmes of continuing education; (d) Design educational and training programmes for women who are unemployed in order to provide them with new knowledge and skills that will enhance and broaden their employment opportunities, including self-employment, and development of their entrepreneurial skills; (e) Diversify vocational and technical training and improve access for and retention of girls and women in education and vocational training in such fields as science, mathematics, engineering, environmental sciences and technology, information technology and high technology, as well as management training; (f) Promote women's central role in food and agricultural research, extension and education programmes; (g) Encourage the adaptation of curricula and teaching materials, encourage a supportive training environment and take positive measures to promote training for the full range of occupational choices of non-traditional careers for women and men, including the development of multidisciplinary courses for science and mathematics teachers to sensitize them to the relevance of science and technology to women's lives; (h) Develop curricula and teaching materials and formulate and take positive measures to ensure women better access to and participation in technical and scientific areas, especially areas where they are not represented or are underrepresented; (i) Develop policies and programmes to encourage women to participate in all apprenticeship programmes; (j) Increase training in technical, managerial, agricultural extension and marketing areas for women in agriculture, fisheries, industry and business, arts and crafts, to increase income-generating opportunities, women's participation in economic decision-making, in particular through women's organizations at the grass-roots level, and their contribution to production, marketing, business, and science and technology; (k) Ensure access to quality education and training at all appropriate levels for adult women with little or no education, for women with disabilities and for documented migrant, refugee and displaced women to improve their work opportunities. Strategic objective B.4. Develop non-discriminatory education and training Actions to be taken 85. By Governments, educational authorities and other educational and academic institutions: (a) Elaborate recommendations and develop curricula, textbooks and teaching aids free of gender-based stereotypes for all levels of education, including teacher training, in association with all concerned - publishers, teachers, public authorities and parents associations; (b) Develop training programmes and materials for teachers and educators that raise awareness about the status, role and contribution of women and men in the in the family, as defined in paragraph 30, and society; in this context, promote equality, cooperation, mutual respect and shared responsibilities between girls and boys from pre-school level onward and develop, in particular, educational modules to ensure that boys have the skills necessary to take care of their own domestic needs and to share responsibility for their household and for the care of dependants; (c) Develop training programmes and materials for teachers and educators that raise awareness of their own role in the educational process, with a view to providing them with effective strategies for gender-sensitive teaching; (d) Take actions to ensure that female teachers and professors have the same opportunities as and equal status with male teachers and professors, in view of the importance of having female teachers at all levels and in order to attract girls to school and retain them in school; (e) Introduce and promote training in peaceful conflict resolution; (f) Take positive measures to increase the proportion of women gaining access to educational policy- and decision-making, particularly women teachers at all levels of education and in academic disciplines that are traditionally male-dominated, such as the scientific and technological fields; (g) Support and develop gender studies and research at all levels of education, especially at the postgraduate level of academic institutions, and apply them in the development of curricula, including university curricula, textbooks and teaching aids, and in teacher training; (h) Develop leadership training and opportunities for all women to encourage them to take leadership roles both as students and as adults in civil society; (i) Develop appropriate education and information programmes with due respect for multilingualism, particularly in conjunction with the mass media, that make the public, particularly parents, aware of the importance of non-discriminatory education for children and the equal sharing of family responsibilities by girls and boys; (j) Develop human rights education programmes that incorporate the gender dimension at all levels of education, in particular by encouraging higher education institutions, especially in their graduate and postgraduate juridical, social and political science curricula, to include the study of the human rights of women as they appear in United Nations conventions; (k) Remove legal and regulatory and social barriers, where appropriate, to sexual and reproductive health education within formal education regarding women's health issues; (l) Encourage, with the guidance and support of their parents an in cooperation with educational staff and institutions, the elaboration of educational programmes for girls and boys and the creation of integrated services in order to raise awareness of their responsibilities and to help them to assume those responsibilities, taking into account the importance of such education and services to personal development and self- esteem, as well as the urgent need to avoid unwanted pregnancy, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV/AIDS, and such phenomena as sexual violence and abuse; (m) Provide accessible recreational and sports facilities and establish and strengthen gender-sensitive programmes for girls and women of all ages in education and community institutions and support the advancement of women in all areas of athletics and physical activity, including coaching, training and administration, and as participants at the national, regional and international levels; (n) Recognize and support the right of indigenous women and girls to education; and promote a multicultural approach to education that isresponsive to the needs, aspirations and cultures of indigenous women, including by developing appropriate education programmes, curricula and teaching aids, to the extent possible in the languages of indigenous people and by providing for the participation of indigenous women in these processes; (o) Acknowledge and respect the artistic, spiritual and cultural activities of indigenous women; (p) Ensure that gender, equality, and cultural, religious and other diversity are respected in educational institutions; (q) Promote education, training and relevant information programmes for rural and farming women through the use of affordable and appropriate technologies and the mass media - for example, radio programmes, cassettes and mobile units; (r) Provide non-formal education, especially for rural women, in order to realize their potential with regard to health, micro- enterprise, agriculture and legal rights; (s) Remove all barriers to access to formal education for pregnant adolescents and young mothers, and support the provision of child care and other support services where necessary. Strategic objective B.5. Allocate sufficient resources for and monitor the implementation of educational reforms Actions to be taken 86. By Governments: (a) Provide the required budgetary resources to the educational sector, with reallocation within the educational sector to ensure increased funds for basic education, as appropriate; (b) Establish a mechanism at appropriate levels to monitor the implementation of educational reforms and measures in relevant ministries, and establish technical assistance programmes, as appropriate, to address issues raised by the monitoring efforts. 87. By Governments and, as appropriate, private and public institutions, foundations, research institutes and non- governmental organizations: * It is proposed to consider this section in chapters V and VI. (a) When necessary, mobilize additional funds from private and public institutions, foundations, research institutes and non-governmental organizations to enable girls and women, as well as boys and men on an equal basis, to complete their education, with a particular emphasis on under-served populations; (b) Provide funding for special programmes, such as programmes in mathematics, science and computer technology, to advance opportunities for all girls and women. 88. By multilateral development institutions, including the World Bank, regional development banks, bilateral donors and foundations , consider: (a) Increaseing funding for the education and training needs of girls and women as a priority in development assistance programmes; (b) Working with recipient Governments to ensure that funding for women's education is maintained or increased in structural adjustment and economic recovery programmes, including lending and stabilization programmes. 89. By international and intergovernmental organizations, especially the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), at the global level: (a) Contribute to the evaluation of progress achieved, using educational indicators generated by national, regional and international bodies, and urge Governments, in implementing measures, to eliminate differences between women and men, boys and girls with regard to opportunities in education and training and the levels achieved in all fields, particularly in primary and literacy programmes; (b) Provide technical assistance upon request to developing countries to strengthen the capacity to monitor progress in closing the gap between women and men in education, training and research, and in levels of achievement in all fields, particularly basic education and the elimination of illiteracy; (c) Conduct an international campaign promoting the right of women and girls to education; (d) Allocate a substantial percentage of their resources to basic education for women and girls.