Marriage quashes education hopes of South Sudan's girls

A girl from Wau, a town in southern Sudan, sits with her belongings waiting for the government of southern Sudan to transport her back before the secession referendum, in Mayo, south of Khartoum January 4, 2011. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

By Julius Uma

JUBA (AlertNet) - It took years of pleading before Jane Aketch persuaded her parents to send her to primary school in the dusty bush of South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria state.

Although her parents wanted her to learn how to read and write, like most of the communities in Aketch's home county of Magwi, they did not place particular importance in furthering a girl's education.

"Generally, in South Sudan, girls are supposed to stay at home and clean, while boys attend school," explained the 14-year-old, who is one of five daughters.

Aketch said her sisters all dropped out of school before completing their primary education.

"My parents didn't approve of us going," she said, shyly looking away.

Yet boosting education will be vital in developing South Sudan as it prepares to become an independent country on July 9, following January's referendum on secession, which was part of a 2005 deal to end two decades of civil war.

Schooling is poor across the board in South Sudan, an overwhelmingly rural region. There is only one teacher for every 1,000 primary school students and 85 percent of adults do not know how to read or write.

For girls and women, it is even worse. UNESCO, the United Nations' (U.N.) educational and cultural organization, estimates that nine out of 10 women are illiterate.

VALUING THE 'GIRL-CHILD'

South Sudanese parents keep their daughters away from school for many reasons. Sometimes, it is a reluctance to send girls to mixed-gender schools. More often, a girl is considered a source of wealth to her family for the "bride price" or dowry she brings upon marriage, and so is married off at a young age.

In some communities, an educated woman who carries a pen rather than a bundle of firewood is considered a disgrace and by virtue of her education may attract a lower dowry.

"I was married off at a very tender age," recalls Rosemary Ajith. "My parents were given so many cows by my husband. Up to now, my younger sisters are not allowed to attend school," she added. "They are often told to follow my example."

Although the tradition of paying "bride price" is ancient, many South Sudanese women are now calling for the practice to be abolished.

"Our communities have to start valuing the importance of educating the 'girl-child' child," said Julia Duany, undersecretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in Southern Sudan's government.

"Too much attachment to some of the cultural norms that are negative towards girls will remain a set-back to the girl-child education policy."

Lise Grande, the U.N. deputy resident and humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, said Sudanese women themselves should lead the campaign to abolish dowry, rather than U.N. aid agencies.

"If Southern Sudanese women feel that dowry payment should be abolished from their societies, it's upon them to take the lead in the struggle to achieve this," Grande said. "That struggle will not be easy to achieve in reality."

GENDER GAP

Other major obstacles girls face in gaining an education include sexual harassment, early pregnancy and child-to-child, according to a 2008 study by the U.N. children's agency UNICEF.

The study, based on findings from UNICEF's 2006 Rapid Assessment of Learning Spaces, also raised concerns about poorly educated and trained staff handling expanding class sizes, limited supervision at county and state levels as well as low motivation causing teachers to quit the profession.

An estimated 340,000 children were enrolled in primary schools at the time Sudan's 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed, according to UNICEF, and in 2009 primary school enrolment was at 1,362,941 - about 860,000 boys and 502,000 girls. But, according to UNESCO, less than 2 percent of these children complete primary school education.

Source: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/marriage-quashes-education-hopes-of-south-sudans-girls/

Women’s Bank offers a way forward

These Cambodian women have received training in savings and loan operations, and are now managing the local village bank themselves.
Women’s Bank, a Finnish fund, supports sustainable entrepreneurship and livelihood among women in developing countries.
In 2007 a group of women from Finland visited a developmental project in Liberia, meeting a large number of hardworking women with a host of ideas. Given the chance to realise these plans, they could have improved the financial situations of their families, but they lacked support and access to financial resources.
Shanti Lama, in Nepal, has received vocational training to become a tailor and now has her own shop. She’s happy she can afford school supplies for her children with her own income.
Women's Bank was founded upon a vision of helping such women put their ideas into action – learning a vocation or even setting up a business. This meant providing direct, tangible help at grass-roots level: small loans, education in entrepreneurship and vocational training.
Attitudes also had to be changed, since in many countries women are not thought of as independent entrepreneurs and leaders. According to the Women's Bank ideology, gaining approval for women's entrepreneurship is the most efficient way of decreasing poverty in the world, as women and girls often form a forgotten resource.
Today Women's Bank is active in 12 countries on three continents, receives donations from corporations and private citizens, and is managed in cooperation with volunteers and Finn Church Aid.
Spotlight: village banks in Asia
Gita, in Nepal, has learned to farm vegetables at a Village Bank course. Now some of the crops can be sold and she can save money for the schooling of her children.
In Asia, Women’s Bank is active in Cambodia and Nepal, operating primarily by financing village banks. Village banks operate in rural communities where financing services with reasonable interest rates are frequently out of reach for poor families. Village bank members are local women who, after receiving basic training in savings and loan operations, manage the bank themselves. The interest rate for loans is low and the local area benefits. Women have proved to be trustworthy clients: almost 100 percent of the loans are paid back on time.
Village bank projects are accompanied by educational programs: People are offered both counseling in financial skills and practical training such as farming cash crops or tailoring. “Merely handing out money is not a solution to poverty’, stresses Hanna Kallio, the head of communications group, "we believe that giving advice, education and a small start-up loan in the beginning will be much more effective in the long run."
Towards the third million
In 2010 the Women’s Bank gained momentum. In 2009 fund had managed to collect one million euros in Finland, and the following summer another million was raised. This reflects the growing interest among people in doing something to help women in developing countries. This year’s target is to reach the third million.

Kong Sam An in Cambodia was a member of the local Village Bank for two years. With the skills and resources acquired during the membership, she has managed to expand her small kiosk into a general store.
In Finland, many men have joined the work and been welcomed. In the recipient countries, however, the organisation is still a bank for women, as the name states. In developing countries women are often the poorest of the poor. “Working together as a community and seeing that your work can have a concrete positive impact on the lives of your far-away sisters is an empowering experience’, states Mari Männistö, the chair of the capital area unit. The Women’s Bank celebrates its anniversary on March 8, International Women’s Day. Everybody who believes in the power of women to change the world is welcome to join.

Links
Women’s Bank official homepage: http://www.naistenpankki.fi/en/
By By Riia Järvenpää, February 2011
Source: http://www.finland.fi/Public/default.aspx?contentid=214478&nodeid=41805&culture=en-US

Africa’s future depends on entrepreneurship

An interview with: Professor Walter Baets, Director of the UCT Graduate School (SA)
“Africa’s future depends on entrepreneurship”

“Development in Africa is not dependent on the quality and drive of its governments. Neither on aid projects, nor on the work of volunteers from the west. The future and the well-being of this continent depends largely on the power of its own, local entrepreneurs”, says Professor Walter Baets, Director of the UCT Graduate School of Business in Cape Town, South Africa.

Professor Walter Baets (of Belgian nationality) is heading one of the leading business schools of Africa, finishing 60th in the latest Financial Times Global MBA Top 100 Ranking. He is a firm believer in the power of entrepreneurship to solve the problems of many African countries. “Governments try hard, but sometimes lack the expertise to plan the building of local wealth, to alleviate unemployment, to face social challenges. Their best bet is to support the development of small business enterprises – SME’s – that are the real backbone of economy. They account for 40-60 per cent of global GDP and up to 70 per cent of employment of the OECD countries. The numbers are probably even higher in large parts of Africa. Africa should cherish and develop this strong power.”
Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship

It is for this reason that professor Baets and the UCT Graduate School are launching a brand-new Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Cape Town. Professor Baets: “The centre is geared towards showing students new and better ways to build enterprises with growth potential in South Africa and in the rest of the continent.”

One of the many great initiatives of the Centre is to offer managers of small companies a one year program. “We focus on small companies with real growth potential, that are potentially able to create more jobs than they currently do. These are hard working businessmen and women with a company consisting of three, maybe four employees. They generally lack the knowledge of marketing and finance to make their business grow. We teach and coach them how to take their enterprise one step further. How to create added value. The students get tough assignments, some based on real-life social and business problems, that require innovative thinking.”
Integrate social and environmental goals

Educating the future businessmen and women to be good entrepreneurs is one task the educators have. “The centre of social innovation and entrepreneurship aims to teach them how to integrate social and environmental goals and benefits in to their business models. How to conduct business in a responsible way.”

Professor Baets is determined to spread the social innovation and entrepreneurship learnings to other parts of Africa. “Our aim is to actively share the curriculum with universities in countries like Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. Members of the Association of African Business Schools have already shown their interest. This is part of our plans for the future, maybe as soon as in 2012. Sharing the knowledge of how to educate and train social entrepreneurs in a practical, effective and low-cost way can make a big difference to the economies of African countries.”

Source:http://www.flyingblueclubafrica.com/business/expert-opinion/africas-future-depends-on-entrepreneurship