I chose to focus my blog assigment on the country of Nepal because my friend volunteered in an orphanage there last year - something I would love to do if I was ever able to free my life up enough to do it!
From what I gathered in reading the UNICEF website on Nepal, gender discrimination is alive and well in that country...and it is apparent in all aspects of life.
In fact, there is a wide gap between women and men when it comes to adequate access to health care, nutrition, education - or even basic participation in decision-making for themselves or their children. Sadly, infant mortality is much higher for girls, and illiteracy is far more common among women than men. Many rural women live in severe poverty, without any means of improving conditions for themselves and their families. Within households women often have less to eat than men. Insufficient calorie intake for the women leads directly to chronic malnutrition in the infants they nurse.
Lack of economic opportunity has resulted in many of the most productive members of households to migrate and leave the villages. As a result more and more women have been heading households alone and taking on the burden of sustaining the rural economy. In fact, women constitute more than 60 per cent of the agricultural labor force but have little access to land, production technology and training.
Nepal’s Millennium Development Goals progress report (2005) estimates that the country is likely to reach by 2015 the targets for reducing poverty, child mortality, tuberculosis, and increasing access to improved drinking water, but is unlikely to do so for universal primary education or halting HIV and AIDS. The goals for hunger, gender equality, and maternal health would require additional and very substantial efforts. (UNICEF, 2011)
Lack of economic opportunity has resulted in many of the most productive members of households to migrate and leave the villages. As a result more and more women have been heading households alone and taking on the burden of sustaining the rural economy. In fact, women constitute more than 60 per cent of the agricultural labor force but have little access to land, production technology and training.
Nepal’s Millennium Development Goals progress report (2005) estimates that the country is likely to reach by 2015 the targets for reducing poverty, child mortality, tuberculosis, and increasing access to improved drinking water, but is unlikely to do so for universal primary education or halting HIV and AIDS. The goals for hunger, gender equality, and maternal health would require additional and very substantial efforts. (UNICEF, 2011)
Given the extraordinary effort involved in simply surviving in Nepal
If I were a young girl in Nepal, I might feel that I wasn't as important as the boys are. I would feel that it was unfair, but that I had no power to change it. Even if I did have the chance to get an education, I might feel that it had little value and that my efforts wouldn't be supported by my family or community.
As an early childhood professional, I find the circumstances endured by Nepalize females to be disturbing and depressing. I wish I could help. Reading about their struggles strengthens my resolve to ensure that I am providing the best possible early childhood experience for children of both genders at my preschool.
Resource
UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html
Resource
UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html
Boys in uniform waiting for the school bus
Ellen, Thanks for enlightening us about what is happening in Nepal. The gender disparity is alarming and shameful in 2012.
ReplyDeleteHi Ellen,
ReplyDeleteI think it is sad that boys and girls are treated differently and that there some women who cannot improve their situation. I think it would be great if you could volunteer at the orphanage and see if you can educate these girls and teach them that they are in fact smart and that with hard work they can improve their lives. Has your friend adopted any of the girls living in Nepal?