8M: women equality starts with equal access to education

Education has the power to change the world and to build fairer and more egalitarian societies. But this is only possible when education is understood as a fundamental right and not as a privilege of a few. Today, despite progress, millions of girls and women are victims of the systematic denial of the fundamental right to education, which leads to the perpetuation of situations of dependency and inequality.

“A child, a teacher, a book and a pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. ” These words were spoken by Malala Yousafzai at the United Nations Assembly. At just 17 years of age, Malala became the youngest person in history to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, for her tireless defence of the right to education for children all over the world and particularly for women and girls. A right for which she even risked her own life. In her hometown in Pakistan, Malala suffered an attack in 2012 after opposing the Taliban’s edict of banning girls from going to school.

Gender discrimination undermines women’s educational prospects in many ways. Early marriages and domestic work lead many girls and young women to drop out of school and give up their dreams and ambitions for their future, often because of family imposition or economic hardship. Similarly, sexual harassment in public spaces is another risk factor that confines many women to their homes and stifles their voices.

Based on this, at St. Bede’s College, from the Maher Library an initiative has been developed, to promote the empowerment and education of women around the world. In collaboration with the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), a Lucky Dip Sweet Stall for International Women’s Day will be set up in the Maher Library to fundraise to help empower women through CAFOD’s World’s Gifts campaign.

This campaign features a whole section of its catalogue dedicated to the promotion and development of women with initiatives such as Healthy mum and baby, which guarantees medical care during pregnancy, or initiatives that promote female entrepreneurship and vocational training to achieve financial independence. Maher Library’s fundraising focuses on serving refugee women who often have more barriers to overcome: higher risk of violence, less access to educational support and difficulty in finding suitable work.

By empowering women, entire families will have a better quality of life. The additional family income can help pay for education, opening up even more opportunities for refugee women and their children.

Thanks to the generous donations of our Bedians, refugee women will be able to gain more independence by getting the support they need to start businesses, earn money and contribute to support for their families. Hiba, a Palestinian refugee living in a camp in Lebanon, for example, is one step closer to fulfilling her dream: “I am learning hairdressing because I love this field and I hope to one day return to Palestine and open my own shop”. Hiba wanted to find a job to help her family, but job opportunities for women are hard to find in the refugee camp, and Palestinians are forbidden to work in certain professions outside the camp. So this training provided by CAFOD’s World’s Gifts campaign has really helped her to start her own small business initiative.