Release Date:
Sunday, March 4, 2012
NADINE MOLLOY, speaking on behalf of Education International, the International Trade Union Confederation and Public Services International, said investment in key public services was a key driver of development and gender equality. Trade unions had grave concerns with current reductions to budgets that supported public services. To achieve the Millennium Development Goals and to ensure education for all, investments in the public sector must be increased, not decreased. Achieving equality in primary and secondary education and ensuring universal access were critical to overcoming development challenges and structural discrimination. Gender-sensitive activities must improve on three axes: curriculum; the learning and physical environment; and the quantity and quality of teachers.
She said that the normative framework necessary to support core policies already existed in the Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as key International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions. Those could serve to overcome the full range of development challenges and gender equalities that impeded the smooth transition from the classroom to the career path and a decent workplace. However, those instruments must be systematically applied. Adequately funded strategic action was also urgently needed.