Primary School Enrolment And Poverty example essay topic

Joni Seager's The Penguin Atlas for Women highlights many disturbing and unfathomable facts regarding the status of women throughout the world. With such an overwhelming amount of staggering statistics, it is difficult to determine the best course of action for the United Nations. It is easy to be overwhelmed and eager to make changes when so many women are suffering. However, in order to be most effective, it is important to separate issues and geographic areas by degree of importance. To that end, before attempting to improve the status of women throughout the entire world, the United Nations should concentrate on elevating the status of women to at least "low rank", by focusing on the interrelated common issues surrounding birthrates, literacy, primary school enrolment, and poverty in those countries who are below the "low rank" level.

Those who need to be elevated to the status of "low rank" are the most severe cases and are easy to determine. In the Gender Development Index, Seager identifies ten countries where women experience the "most disparity between men and women" (13). In contrast, the United States, Canada, and Australia, are among the countries that are characterized by having the "least disparity between men and women" (13). Therefore, in determining the United Nations agenda, it is necessary to make comparisons for purposes of determining appropriate strategies. "The GDI is based on key development indicators, including life expectancy, education attainment, and income" (13). The ten countries that are below "low rank" are all located in Sub-Saharan Africa.

These countries are Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, and Sierra Leone (13). (Hereafter referred to as "Top 10") There are many issues that need to be addressed within these countries. Again, it is important to set an attainable agenda by addressing the most severe problems first. The GDI explains that there are several problems that each of these countries unanimously share, though in varying degrees. Because each of the 10 countries have these issues in common, and based on the positive figures of our "model" countries, it is reasonable to assume that each are related to the overall very low status of women. Further, countries such as United States, Canada and Australia, ("model" countries) enjoy positive conditions in each of the four areas which make up our immediate agenda, and also much better conditions for women overall.

According to Seager, "on worldwide average, women are having fewer children than did their mothers and grandmothers" (32). However, women in every country of our immediate concern have an average of more than 6 childbirths (33). It is easily understood that having fewer children translates into more time, less expense, and therefore better opportunities for both mothers and children. For this reason, it is important that while seeking ways to help our subjects, we must work on decreasing the amount of children women are having. A somewhat obvious conclusion is that in doing so, we consider their contraceptive methods". Not surprisingly, only 10% or fewer women in Top 10 countries (those which we have data on) are using "modern" contraception (35).

Our "model" countries on the other hand, report that over 75% of women are using "modern contraception (35). Based on this data, the UN needs to find a way of increasing the use of oral contraceptives, IUD's, injectibles and sterilization in the Top 10 (35). Realizing the difficulty of this task, the author points out "The politics of contraceptives development and distribution are complex and troubling" however, increasing literacy and primary school enrollment would not be as controversial (34). Not surprisingly, with regards to the top 10, Seager reports that less than 74% of girls are enrolled in primary school (79). Niger has the world-wide lowest figures, being 23% (79). Based on the overall increase in female equality of our model countries, the UN must convince the people of Sub-Saharan Africa that educating girls is not a luxury, but instead a necessity.

Enrolling girls in primary school, thereby increasing literacy is extremely important. Education provides one with many opportunities instills confidence and opens the mind to new ideas. These are all things which would lay the foundation to helping the girls, and ultimately women, in these countries. The benefits of education are apparent in the United States, Canada, and Australia who represent the ideal with such glowing reports as "almost universal enrolment" for girls (79).

Changing ideas about the "importance of educating girls" is understandably a difficult, but necessary task, especially when the illiteracy rate among adult women is so high (78). Seager reports that "Nearly a billion people in the world are illiterate, about two thirds of whom are women" (76). Further, many of those women live in Sub-Saharan Africa and, more specifically, the highest percentages are found in Niger with 92% and Burkina Faso with 87% (77). The model countries, who enjoy less poverty and overall much more equality, report such contrasting figures as "10% and under" illiteracy rates (77). My argument of "interrelatedness" is confirmed by the author who states "Illiteracy diminishes women's economic well-being, increases their dependency on men, reinforces their ties to the domestic sphere and diminishes their ability to control or understand their own property, wealth, health and legal rights" (76).

Women who are illiterate can not very well be expected to encourage primary school enrollment or to read information about birth control, because of their own life experiences which do not include education or innovative thinking. Educating girls will help them to make more informed decisions regarding their life choices. Another way these issues are related is in the clear correlation between birth control, number of children, and poverty. The women in the U.S., Canada and Australia not only enjoy more education they also have significantly lower levels of poverty, with less than 24% of the population living below the national poverty line (87). Since proving that women residing in the Top 10 have more children and less education and literacy, it is not surprising that they also live in the most poverty stricken areas.

Some 25-74% of the population in these countries lives below the national poverty line (87) and as Seager reports, "The poorest of the poor are women" (86). Our model countries of U.S., Canada and Australia have positive statistics with regards to literacy, primary school enrollment, and poverty in contrast to the Top 10 who suffer greatly in all those areas. Sager rightfully argues that "Generalized illiteracy is mostly a function of poverty and limited education opportunity" (76) thereby confirming the "interrelatedness" of such conditions and, based on Sealer's findings, poverty is clearly linked to number of children. Joni Seager's realization that "gender equality can be largely affected by an intentional commitment to equality principles and policies" (12) prompted me to identify the most problematic situations that women face today. Though women everywhere are exposed to incomprehensible conditions, the United Nations can only affect change by breaking down the overwhelming list of issues and territories into feasible goals. The Top 10 which is located in Sub-Saharan, Africa face 4 main problems, large number of children, highest illiteracy rates, lowest primary school enrolment, and highest poverty rates all which are interrelated and infiltrate other areas of society.

Though combating these problems will be admittedly extremely challenging, before turning our attention to the female population at large, we must first help those who are in most dire need. WORK CITED Seager, Joni. The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 2003.