Girls' Education Case Study - Johns Hopkins University

8/13/2019 Girls' Education Case Study - Johns Hopkins University

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Doctor of Education Case Study

Girls Education and the Millennium Development Goals: NGO Challenges

855.716 Contemporary Approaches To Educational Problems

Spring 2014


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Girls Education Case Study

Girls education is front-page news. Malala Yousafzai,

the sixteen-year-old Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban for

her efforts both to attend school and advocate for girls

education, recently addressed the United Nations General

Assembly and was nominated for a 2013 Nobel Peace

Prize (Yousafzai, July 12, 2013).

Global agencies, advocacy groups, and feature films such

as Girl Rising and Half the Sky, have popularized a

correlation between the advancement of girls education

and overall global development (Lomoy, J. 2010; Bhatt, E.

2011).Adopted formally by 189 member states and 23international organizations in September 2000, the United

Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) enlist

governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs),

and global agencies to accomplish targets established in 8

broad categories: (1) eradicate extreme poverty and

hunger (2) achieve universal primary education (3)

promote gender equality and empower women (4) reduce

child mortality (5) improve maternal health (6) combat

HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases (7) ensure

environmental sustainability, and (8) build global

partnerships for development (UN-MDG Report, 2013).The United Nations claims that the MDGs catalyzed unprecedented progress and dramatic

results (Ibid, pgs. 4-16; Heyzer, 2005). Secretary General Ban Ki Moons 2013 report asserts

substantial gains across all eight goals. The goals to halve the number of those living in

extreme poverty as well as those without reliable access to clean drinking water have been met

(Ban, K, 2012). In addition, the aggregate figure for gender equality in primary schools is on

par with those of boys (Ibid, pg. 5).Efforts to stem malnutrition, remove barriers to school enrollment, curtail unsanitary

conditions leading to child mortality, and combat malaria and tuberculosis have been equally

impressive (Lewis, M. & Lockheed, M. 2007). Rapid advances in technology, particularly in

telephony, networks, and Internet access, have resulted in dramatic changes in e-government,

Photo Credit: Fred Mednick


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education, and entrepreneurial activity (Cisco, 2008). Today, from all corners of the globe,

communities expect information to be accessible, available, and affordable so that they may

participate in a globally interconnected economy (World Bank, 2008)The United Nations recognizes the correlation between girls education and overall social and

economic development (Hannum, E., Buchmann, C. 2005), particularly MDG 3to promote

gender equality and empower women; An educated mother is 50% more likely to immunize

her child than a mother without an education (UNESCO, 2012). With an extra year of

education, a girl can earn up to 20% more as an adult and often reinvest 90% of her income

into her family. (Save the Children, 2005). Children born to literate mothers are far more

likely to survive past the age of 5 (Hogan, 2010). Over the past 40 years, womens education

has prevented more than 4 million child deaths (Veneman, 2007).

As the 2015 MDG expiration date approaches, a vigorous and contentious post-2015 debate is

well underway, particularly in regard to the education of girls.Millennium Development Goal Challenges

Despite claims of having inspired dramatic advances in human welfare, the MDGs have faced

substantial criticism as an aspirational, unenforceable, one-size-fits-all approach to major

global issues, designed by rich countries as a marketing ploy (Pogge, 2012) to expand markets

or exert political influence (Easterly, 2006). Significant concern has been raised about faulty

evaluation design; data collection, validity, and reliability; and monitoring capacity (Maren,

2002). Womens organizations and marginalized communities claim that the MDGs have not

included them at the negotiation table (Maren, pgs 47-56).

Critics argue that the MDGs have committed egregious sins of omission that cut across a wide

range of international development and policy issues, by failing to include declarations and

conventions introduced since the MDGs began. (USAID, 2012). Others decry a lack of usable

and enforceable frameworks for the protection of human rights, particularly those of women,

beyond a fleeting, tokenistic, or rhetorical embrace (UNGEI, 2012). Without the inclusion of

such issues (most notably targets for food security, internet access, peace, and justice), the

MDGs are dismissed as hollow and ephemeral (Eastery, pgs. 35-47).

The criticism is not limited to structural or political issues. The MDGs themselves have come

under intense scrutiny. Halving poverty has been viewed as woefully under ambitious

(Barton, 2005). Most poor countries will not meet MDG targets (Annan, 2010). The Global

Campaign for Education (GCE) reports that (1) in 47 out of 54 African countries, girls have

less than a 50% chance of completing primary school, and (2) in the least developed countries

overall, more than a third of young women, 15-24 years old, cannot read (GCE, 2013; OECD,

2010). In several regions of sub-Saharan Africa, the number of mobile phones outstrips the


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number of latrines or flush toilets (Cohen, 2010).

As the MDG debate continues, proponents and critics agree that the education of girls is of

paramount importance in global efforts to address global problems, particularly in the area of

education access and equity, public health, and education in emergencies (Turquet, Watt, &

Sharman, 2007).Education Access and Equity

Issues of gender equity have been central to the development of a gender sensitive lens designed

to link social justice and gender equality with education for sustainable development (De

Schutter, 2010). Researchers and NGO leaders have demanded publicly viewable data and

accountability measures ensuring that policies governing gender equity and protecting girls are

enforced (UNESCO Atlas, 2012)The United Nations latest Millennium Development Report (2013) Report acknowledges thisissue, claiming that persisting gender-based inequalities in decision-making continue to deny

women a say in the decisions that affect their lives (UNDP 2013, p.5). For several countries

rated at the bottom of the United Nations Development Index, the pace of progress toward equity

and human rights has not only slowed, but also gone backward (UNDP Index, 2013).

The issues surrounding girls education are rarely understood from a single theoretical or

empirical perspective, and must consider a range of socio-economic, historical, and cultural

variables. (Kabeer, 2005). Girls may not attend school in a region of Pakistan because their

Photo Credit: Human Rights Watch
http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/10/01/international-day-girl-infographichttp://www.takepart.com/article/2012/10/01/international-day-girl-infographic


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families may fear retribution by authorities, human trafficking networks, or school sexual

violence. Families may have been told that religious doctrine forbids the education of girls.

(Milanovic, 2012). From an economic perspective, those same families may not comprehend the

longer-term financial benefits of removing girls from the task of carrying water, rather than

attending school, especially when families are required to pay school fees for uniforms or

supplies (Turquet, et al, pgs. 15-18; Polman 2010).As the world becomes increasingly aware of educational and equity disparities, the momentum to

build more schools has met with resistance from those who seek assurances that those schools are

staffed with qualified teachers capable of promoting inclusion and fairness (deMayo 2009). In

short, Malala has a right to attend a goodschool and learn from well-trainededucators.Education and Public Health

Public health cuts across all areas of development and educated girls benefit the most (Temin,

M & Levine, R (2009). Public health professionals must confront female genital cutting, child

marriage, poor maternal care, HIV-AIDS transmission, human trafficking, gender-based

attacks, limited access to health services, protection, or mechanisms to make their voices

heard (Alston, 2004).

Photo Credit: Global Campaign for Education


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Public Health initiatives have made remarkable success (Chen, 2005). In Malawi, voucher

programmes for fertilizers and seeds have addressed decades-old famine and have transformed

the country into a net food importer. Immunization programs, particularly measles campaigns,

have surpassed expectations. Distributions of mosquito nets (supported by education about

proper use) have drastically reduced the number of malaria-related deaths than among children

not protected from them (Yehualashet, 2011).Public and private partnerships have made substantial inroads to provide mobile maternal health

units, initiate campaigns to end Fistula, provide free access to antiretroviral treatments, slow HIV

infections among youth, control and treat tuberculosis, distribute vitamin A supplements and

parasite medication, and install water purification systems (De Waal, 1999).The remarkable success of these health initiatives, however, has evaporated in those regions

where public health education campaigns are insufficient and where women are not empowered

(EFA, 2010).

Here, too, research on gender issues depends upon region, resources, and attention. In sub-

Saharan Africa, women continue to be more likely than men to live in poverty (World Bank

2013). MDGs associated with promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing

child mortality, and improving maternal health are the furthest MDGs from their targets. In sub-

Saharan Africa, where women, especially those between the ages of 15 and 24, are at higher risk

of living with HIV and 30 per cent more likely to be infected with HIV than men (Williams,

2013).Education in Emergencies

In 2000, as the MDGs were

being formalized, the

InterAgency Network for

Education in Emergencies

(INEE) was founded in order

to create education clusters of

NGOs and global agencies in

order to coordinateinterventions and establish

standards. This unprecedented

global collaboration has also

enlisted public support in

exposing cases of education


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under attack and the use of schools as battlegrounds.

Today, when disaster strikes, coordinating NGOs require that educators be included in first-

responder teams (Save the Children, 2009).The new millennium also brought to global attention the experience of women in natural and

national disasters (Enarson, 2000). INEE focuses a considerable amount of attention on the

education of girls. Natural and national emergencies have magnified existing social, political,

and economic disparities. Acute crisesexpected to last monthsstretch into years,

compounded by the issues that emerge in overcrowded, unsanitary, refugee communities (INEE

Gender Toolkit, 2013). Large-scale natural and national disasters have disenfranchised and

displaced millions, resulting in the largest number of refugees in history. During the 2004

Indonesian earthquake and tsunami, two-thirds of the casualties were women (UNISDR, 2005).

In 2013, states bordering Syria faced the daunting humanitarian task of absorbing 2.5 milliondisplaced people into makeshift camps (UNHCR, 2014; Human Rights Watch 2013) in which

polioonce eradicatedhas returned and incidents of gender violence have soared.

Often responsible for basic livelihoods and care for children in refugee communities, girls and

women have suffered the most. Relegated to a lower rung on food, power, and housing

hierarchies, girls and women are subject to higher rates of infectious and water-borne diseases,

and sexual and domestic abuse.

INEE has led the effort to promote the instrumental role women have played in mitigating the

effects of hazards through prevention and rescue and recovery, relief, and reconstruction. The

International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and the United Nations Development

Programme now campaign for gender mainstreaming to be incorporated into disaster management

initiatives, including education in the science and technology of safety, educational leadership,

disaster preparedness and planning, child-friendly spaces in emergencies, post-disaster relief, and

reconstruction efforts following natural or national disasters.Girls Education: Research Questions and Challenges for NGOs

The United Nations and NGOs worldwide are asking critical questions as they seek to inform or

influence the post-2015 MDG agenda. Those questions require empirical, theoretical, andcontextual research that considers the complex, interdisciplinary nature of the development field

itself. Such questions often include, but are certainly not limited to, the following: n How do we build the capacity necessary to evaluate our work and demonstrate impacts? What successful methodologies and best practices should we use to negotiate power

Photo Credit: Zachary Adam


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relationships and stakeholder pressures? What are the processes by which successful gender mainstreaming practices in one

region might be of valuable to, and take root in, in our region? Considering our environmental, political-economic, social, and cultural context, how do

we address threats to our work? What tools and resources have been successful in measuring the effects of girls

education in a given community? How can our girls education efforts be sustained, replicated, communicated, and

measured? How might we address the opportunities and challenges of communicating these impacts

to policy makers, planners, field workers, and community organizations? How do we manage change? How do we cultivate leadership? How do we ensure community support?

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