Gender Equality and Higher Education.

It is so common to listen “gender equality” as a transversal issue in strategic planning in private and public institutions  (government organizations and in municipality and State government planning).

UNESCO has been working in the last years in “Medium-term Strategies 2014-2021” (UNESCO, 2014), where important principles in education, science and culture are set. One global priority is gender equality:

“UNESCO considers gender equality as a fundamental human right, a building block for social justice and an economic necessity. It is a critical factor for the achievement of all internationally agreed development goals as well as a goal in and of itself. Sustainable development and peace at the global, regional and local levels can only be realized if women and men enjoy expanded and equal opportunities, choices and capabilities to live in freedom and dignity as full and equal citizens.” (UNESCO, 2014)

As a complement, there is an Action Plan 2014-2021 (GEAP II) where there are specific actions to contribute to reach specific outcomes to women empowerment and gender equality within UNESCO and its Member States. (UNESCO, 2014)

It is important to mention that the Fourth Wold Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 is the reference for those documents. The Declaration and Platform to Action have as an strategic objectives: poverty reduction, education and training, health, violence against women, armed conflict, economy, power and decision making, institutional mechanism, human rights, media and environment and a particular strategic objective to small girls. (ONU Mujeres, 2014)

In this sense, gender equality is an important topic to achieve sustainable development and education is a basic platform. Access to education for girls and women have grow up, there still is so much to do . In the Declaration and Platform for Action, Beijing 1995, it is stated:

“Access for and retention of girls and women at all levels of education, including the higher level, and all academic areas is one of the factors of their continued progress in professional activities.”(UNWomen, 2014).

Here I would like to stop since this is a fundamental declaration to understand that women MUST go into higher education, no matter their social and personal condition and the focus must be there.

In my own experience, it is so important that women get into Higher Education due to the development of skills, capacities and competences to leader themselves and to others as a team leader or/and family leader:

Vision:   Our capacity to develop long run targets; thinking in a personal and professional beyond the moment, the reason of our day-to.day, the most dynamic way to  inspire  the future and fuel the way to meet the targets, notwithstanding some time we bias the path. The vision will return to the right way. This visualization capacity, for personal and professional core competences will give the competitive advantages in all we do, but we have to see it in the first place.

Leadership: Our capacity of interact and guide others for positive purposes, having the ability to inspire ourselves and to others to act and get positive impacts, to create a culture of being and do and therefore to create a strong community, in the business and/or the family. If those to be inspired are small girls, young women and women, then the impact will be wider.

Mission. We all have a mission in life and it is so common to ask what it is just as if it is in the air. Vision give us the path to find the value of our personal and professional life, all those valuable things to fight for.

Planning and Organization: To meet long-run targets short-run and medium-run targets are needed. Planning is the way to do it. Any activity takes time and effort, so if we use those variables with an efficient and effective way, our day-to-day activities will be more profitable. It is important to remember that we are under 24/7 day basis and time to sleep and eat is needed.

Economic Independence: Professional abilities and capacities let women to get into decent jobs and decent wages (most of the case) improving the quality of life individually and within the family.

ETC…

I can go on with a endless list of capacities and abilities apart from those that we get into the higher education. Those capacities and abilities for life, for a decent life, so far away from any kind of violence, so far away from any kind of dependence and SO CLOSED to the liberty to choose and  to make decisions.

References.

ONU Mujeres. (2014). ONU Mujeres. Recuperado el 12 de 12 de 2019, de https://www.unwomen.org/es/how-we-work/intergovernmental-support/world-conferences-on-women

UNESCO. (2014). Estrategias a Plazo Medio (2014-2021). Recuperado el 12 de 12 de 2019, de http://www.lacult.unesco.org/docc/37C4_es.pdf

UNESCO. (2015). Segundo Plan de Accción. Recuperado el 12 de 12 de 2019, de https://unesdoc.unesco.org/in/documentViewer.xhtml?v=2.1.196&id=p::usmarcdef_0000227222_spa&file=/in/rest/annotationSVC/DownloadWatermarkedAttachment/attach_upload_3af8f3cb-be2d-4d05-8192-4a1bd67c6830%3F_%3D227222spa.pdf&locale=es&multi=true&ark=/ark:/48223/pf0000227222_spa/PDF/227222spa.pdf#%5B%7B%22num%22%3A30%2C%22gen%22%3A0%7D%2C%7B%22name%22%3A%22XYZ%22%7D%2C17%2C649%2Cnull%5D

UNWomen. (2014). ONU Mujeres,. Recuperado el 12 de 12 de 2019, de https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/csw/bpa_s_final_web.pdf?la=es&vs=755