The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) recently issued General Recommendation Number 36 to highlight the importance of education to furthering the human rights of girls and women and as a crucial “pathway to gender equality.” The Recommendation notes that many barriers to education for women and girls remain throughout the world, including poverty, gender stereotyping, armed conflict, violence at home and at school, and resistance to girls and women competing in male-dominated fields. The Recommendation outlines a three-pronged human rights approach to education for women and girls: equality of infrastructure that allows equal access to education; equal treatment and promotion of women and girls within the educational system; and equal professional advancement and treatment of women who achieve the same educational qualifications as men.
The CEDAW Committee is an independent body of experts that monitors implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Compiled from: General Recommendation No. 36 on Girls’ and Women’s Right to Education, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (November 16, 2017).