Women & Development - Essay Example

?Running Head: Women and Development Women and Development Inserts His/her Introduction From ancient times women have been treated as second class citizens in societies all over the world. The reason of this treatment is mainly the physical strength of men over woman. Because women are not strong as men, they are considered weak and therefore are subjected to prejudice and discrimination. For many centuries women have suffered at the hand of clergy and state. The former renounced women as morally weak while the latter didn’t allow women to use their right to vote. It was not until the 20th century that things started to change and there was considerable intellectual progress. But this progress has not yet made inroads in all regions of the world. The effect of the feminist movement of the 60s can be seen in the Europe and America but women in the developing countries are still facing many serious issues. In this paper we will discuss how UNICEF, a renowned international organization, is trying to deal with women issues like gender inequality, maternal health and other women development issues like female education. We will attempt to elaborate and then evaluate their efforts with regards to women related issues. In the end we will elucidate how UNICEF envisions the future of women development. UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund is an international organization which was established by the United Nations in 1946 in order to deal with the challenges children were facing in the post World War 2 era (UNICEF, 2010). The organization was mainly given the task to deal with the emergency situation children were facing but later the mission of the organization was broadened. Today UNICEF works for children and women in all parts of the world. The focus of the organization is on the children and women of developing world as they are the most vulnerable. UNICEF is funded by voluntary contributions from organizations, people, and countries all over the world. There are national committees that are established in different countries and their purpose is to raise funds. Individual donors also contribute to the organization and they are an important source of funding for UNICEF. UNICEF is working in different less developed countries with an aim to safeguard rights of children and women. The organization focuses on education, health, and gender discrimination in the developing world. The situation for women and children in the developing world is extremely vulnerable as they are not even given the basic necessities of life. Moreover child abuse and domestic violence is common. In such a situation UNICEF helps to decrease the plight of women in a variety of ways. One such way is to provide education of children and women. Education is one of the areas of focus for UNICEF specially child education. It is important for children to get educated, at least to a certain extent, so that they can realize what their rights are and can also pass that education to their offspring. Women empowerment is also advocated by UNICEF and it calls for an end to gender discrimination in education and job opportunities. Basic health facility improvement is also a way in which UNICEF is helping poor countries. Issues of Women Development and Role of UNICEF The main issues that UNICEF deals are female education, maternal health, and gender discrimination. All these issues and the role of UNICEF in dealing with these issues will be discussed below. Gender Inequality Gender inequality is a major problem in developing countries. Women are not given equal opportunities to excel in all walks of life. They are mostly expected to stay at home and take care of the children. Women also have no control on their lives because of the patriarchal nature of societies in the developing world (Mies, 1998). This creates a lot of disparity between the two genders, both economically and socially. Women are not considered equal to men and therefore are denied rights on a regular basis. Gender inequality therefore has become an important issue that needs to be tackled in the developing countries. UNICEF runs various programs in different developing countries that aim to eliminate gender discrimination by promoting equal rights and supporting women to participate in political, social, and economic spheres of the country. UNICEF also conducts regular researches on issues that women are facing and then they act upon the findings of those studies. In 2009 UNICEF carried out a one year action plan that was based on the findings of research conducted in the previous year (UNICEF, 2011). The way in which organization works is also commendable. It usually partners with local organizations and governments. They provide staff and other material for the people of the developing world. This makes it easy for UNICEF to work because it allows the organization to work with a proper infrastructure that is already in place in the respective country. Providing aid and support is not easy because all countries are different therefore it is important to work with local organizations and institutions, and UNICEF is doing really good in this regard. The aim is to promote gender equality so that a stern policy regarding gender discrimination can be implemented. Maternal Health Usually women in the developing countries are not given the same privileges that men enjoy (Braun, 2011). This attitude is common in health related issues as well. Women do not have an access to health facilities and their health issues are usually considered secondary to female. Female child is considered a liability and their health is not deemed important. It is important to understand that it is usually happening in a society where health issues are already eating up the population rapidly with high mortality rates. In this situation the plight of maternal health is a serious issue. It is a harsh reality that almost half of the births taking place in the developing countries are without the presence of a trained doctor (UNICEF, 2011). UNICEF is trying to train local female nurses, basic birth attendant training in order to decrease infant and maternal mortality. The health of women is not considered important and child birth is considered an overly simplified process. People have archaic believes about the child birth and they feel that there is no need for trained doctor. Also there are issues of privacy and some cultures do not allow male doctors to treat females. All this creates a lot of problems for female health with regards to child health. UNICEF is trying hard to work with the local government to shape policies regarding the health of pregnant women. The organization also provides logistic support to different countries. This has helped many countries in developing their infrastructure but much more should be done in this regard. The main help that UNICEF provides is through governmental and non governmental agencies in the local country. The problem of maternal health is often enhanced when there is an additional threat of other disease like malaria. Developing countries still encounter diseases like malaria that are curable in the developed world. This is a major reason of maternal mortality during child birth. UNICEF, apart from providing training and logistics, is also trying to increase awareness in the general public. Different marketing campaigns are launched by UNICEF that increase awareness about issues that the mothers of the developing world are facing. It is important for a healthy family that mother remains healthy. It is not only a big problem but also a cause of many problems. Children usually face malnourishment in the developing countries and this increase child mortality as well. It is therefore extremely important that mothers are taken care of because they will in turn improve the health of their children. UNICEF is therefore trying to help mothers by providing better health services to pregnant women in developing countries. Female Education and Development Female education is another barrier in the development of women in the third world countries. Girls are not considered equal to boys therefore their education is also not deemed important. Different countries are trying to increase female participation in education at an early age but success has not been achieved due to lack of infrastructure and stringent mindset of the people. Female education is not prioritized and therefore mothers are not able to educate their children. Also women are rushed into marriages at an early age because they are considered liabilities, and parents want to get rid of them soon. This again creates more problems for females in less developed countries. UNICEF is helping local schools and institutions by providing them with funding and support of trained personnel. The organization does not have many wholly owned schools rather they work closely with the governments and local NGOs. The aim is to eliminate discrimination between male and female child so that everyone can get access to education. UNICEF is also developing education programs that are tailor made for specific countries. Through this the organization is aiming to promote female education in developing countries. It is not possible for UNICEF to educate everyone but they are trying their level best. UNICEF attempts to train people with basic sanitation and health related hygienic methods. In this way many diseases can be avoided and valuable lives can be saved. The aim is not to provide higher level education but to provide basic education to children so that they can help their family and themselves when they grow up. The important part is to increase awareness about education because educated children will become parents and then they will also want their children to get education. In this way a snowballing effect can be achieved. Famines are another important issue in the developing countries and they mainly affect women and children (Miriam, 2011). They have an adverse effect on development of all sorts in the third world countries. Efforts regarding female education are seriously hampered as a result of famines and UNICEF is working very hard to set up temporary schools in disaster stricken areas. This plays a major role in women development Evaluation of Efforts of UNICEF UNICEF has attempted many things on ground level and policy level and their success is considerable. The organization has definitely not solved the problems but efforts are being made in the right direction. UNICEF is helping local institutions and governments with regards to the issue of female development and education. The success level of UNICEF is highlighted by its short term and long term approach of the organization. Its one year action plan was successful in 2009 and another plan was carried out in the next year. This short term approach is working well for UNICEF as they are able to provide visible changes. UNICF cannot do anything alone rather it can only help local governments and local NGOs, and it is doing so. It has also helped many countries in health related issues (John, Plotkin, & Orenstein, 2011). Overall the performance of UNICEF is commendable. How is UNICEF Envisioning the Future? UNICEF sees a utopian future where every child will have access to education and there will be no discrimination. This is the aim that is set by UNICEF and it is the right thing to do. We need to have a perfect view regarding future and only then we can improve upon considerably the situation of the world. Female issues are harsh realities and UNICEF envisions a world that is free from all sorts of discrimination. Health of women is also important and UNICEF calls for worldwide availability of health services for mothers so that infant mortality and maternal mortality can be reduced. Conclusion Women development is a major problem in the developing world. Gender discrimination, maternal health, and female education remain the major issues that are hampering the development of women. UNICEF is trying very hard on all levels to solve such issues. The organization is trying to work with local agencies and governments in order to provide their help. It is also funding many NGOs so that they can help improve the situation of women in their respective countries. Overall the efforts of UNICEF are commendable and they are trying to make a difference. References About gender equality and UNICEF. (2011). UNICEF Official Website. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/gender/gender_57317.html About UNICEF: Who are we? (2010). UNICEF Official Website. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_faq.html Braun, Y. (2011). The Reproduction of Inequality: Race, Class, Gender, and the Social Organization of Work at Sites of Large-Scale Development Projects. Social Problems, 58(2): 281-303 Goal: Improve maternal health. (2011). UNICEF Official Website. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/mdg/maternal.html John, Plotkin, & Orenstein. (2011). Building on the success of the Expanded Programme on Immunization: Enhancing the focus on disease prevention and control. Vaccine, 29(48): 8835-8837 Mies, Maria. (1998). Patriarchy and accumulation on a world scale: women in the international division of labour. London: Palgrave Macmillan Miriam. (2011). Famine in Somalia hits women and children hardest. Feministing.com. Retrieved from http://feministing.com/2011/08/05/famine-in-somalia-hits-women-and-children-hardest/ Read More