Poverty

Poverty is a pervasive issue in the Oceania and MENA region that not only impacts girls’ lives but everyones. However, society tends to place most burdens on their female populations because they are neither valued or respected. Despite multiple studies indicating that States lose billions of dollars in losses each year due to discrimination against women and girls in education and the workforce, States have not put in the full effort needed to end this. Malnutrition in the Oceania region is a major issue that ultimately affects girl’s participation in school and other educational practices (United Nations, 2015). The proportion of malnourishment has decreased slowly from 15.7% in 1990 to 14.2% in 2014 (United Nations, 2015). However, child malnutrition in children under 5 has increased to 19% in 2015 since 1990 (United Nations, 2015). The MENA region also faces the same obstacle, UNICEF reported that more than 16 million children are malnourished in the region with most impacted children being located in Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan (UNICEf, 2019). Poverty directly links to girls enrolment into education. Untreated poverty rates result in huge population density and overcrowding in schools making it harder to maintain enrolment and retention of girls in school (Secretariat of the Pacific Community, 2015).

 

Girls with disabilities are subject to more marginalization than non-disabled girls in both regions, limiting their future opportunities. It is also important to note that government expenditure on education is really low in some nations.

 

In 2019, Papua New Guinea spent 1.9% of its government spending on education (The World Bank, 2019). In Jordan, the government spends just 3.9% of its GDP on education (The World Bank, 2019). However, one noticeable trend in the Oceania region is that the Solomon Islands’ expenditure on education is far greater than Australia’s or New Zealand's, yet the island still has greater gender disparities in education than both other States. Pacific States are dependent on forcing funding from governments or international organizations to finance education in their States (The World Bank, 2019). For example, “over 35% of the Cook Islands government budget was funded by New Zealand”, this a result creates a negative trend of dependency and increasing school fees to generate government revenue (Murray, 1993). Due to high poverty rates, many girls leave school in the Solomon Islands to work in harsh settings such as crop fields or selling cigarettes on the side of the road (The World Bank, 2012). Early intervention is required to prevent girls from experiencing the impacts of poverty and no education for the rest of their lives.

 

Culture

Culture plays a big role in the availability of education to girls. Despite the increasing acceptance in both Pacific and MENA cultures towards girl’s education, misogynistic sentiments are still deeply rooted in national policies and institutions. As mentioned before, achieving equitable education goes beyond school attendance and must give primacy to girls’ safety and learning experience. As the Secretariat for the Pacfic Community reported, many Pacfic cultures condone violence against women and girls (Secretariat of the Pacific Community, 2015). A World Health Organization study observed that in the Solomon Islands 64% of women had been physically abused by their partners, and over 37% of all females on the island have been sexually abused before the age of 15 (The World Bank, 2012). Similar statistics and beliefs are apparent in the MENA region.

 

Another issue is that most school curriculums are based on the conservative and male-dominated ideals of society, perpetuating a cycle of tacit structural injustice against girls (Al-Arashi, 2015). Not seeing girls as equal begins from the very first moment they are born.

 

National studies conducted in Kiribati and Samoa concluded that women’s involvement in STEM and science courses is not seen equal to men’s involvement, these subjects are viewed as male-dominant subjects and women’s participation rarely translates to a future career (United Nations, 2011). The study also observed that female leaders are often overlooked when they propose new solutions or perspectives (United Nations, 2011). UNGEI interviewed Jackline, an 18 year old student at Yambio Girl’s Secondary School in Southern Sudan, about her time in school. Jackline stated that, “Men come to the edge of the school and yell at us… They think we should be married” (United Nations Girls' Education Initiative, 2005).  Early marriage is valued in Pacific and MENA cultures for economic and cultural reasons. However, “early marriage tightens the vise of illiteracy” (United Nations Girls' Education Initiative, 2005).

 

The term girl in a herding community in southern Sudan is nyanawong, which means ‘daughter for cows’ when translated (United Nations Girls' Education Initiative, 2005).

 

The MENA region is currently home to nearly 40 million child brides (UNICEF, 2018). It is often misunderstood in international settings that patriarchal practices in the Middle East come from Islamic teachings, however, that is simply not true. Many publications posted by organizations claim that gender equality in the MENA countries can only be achieved by demoting Islam’s role in people’s lives (Markle, 2013).  It must be made clear that patriarchal priorities are culturally created due to the little respect that exists for girls and women.

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Stigma surrounding female menstruation is extremely high in both regions. Feminine hygiene is considered as a taboo to talk and learn about. Support and resources such as facilities and sanitary materials are limited and considered shameful (Francois et al. 2017). Research indicates that menstruation negatively impacts girls' education experiences due to the lack of proper education about female menstruation (Francois et al. 2017). Schools that lack separate washrooms for girls and boys, discourage girls to attend school out of embarrassment. Other challenges facing girls is that in most schools there is lack of access to safe water and sanitation. It is reported that, “girls may miss up to 20% of school days due to menstruation, and school dropout rates tend to increase around the onset of puberty and menarche” (Francois et al. 2017). Most decisions concerning women's health are decided by men who have little knowledge about the needs of women and girls (Secretariat of the Pacific Community, 2015). UNICEF  in partnership with WaterAid and the Fiji Ministry of Education launched the WASH program in Fiji in 2015. The project aims to shamelessly teach young girls about their periods and install the proper facilities needed to ensure no disruption to the girls’ education. Students told researchers that when menstruating, “they do not fully participate in class or concentrate well due to worry about stained uniforms; and they exclude themselves from sports activities or participation in social outings” (Francois et al. 2017). 

 

COVID-19

The Global Partnership for Education organization reported that “the future of millions of girls will never be the same because of the disruption to education systems caused by COVID-19” (Norgah, 2020). Global shutdowns of schools have shrunk the space for education even further. According to UNICEF, the longer girls are out of school, the less they are likely to return (UNICEF, 2020). Many countries have introduced online learning as an alternative to in person schooling, however, that raises other challenges for underprivileged girls in the Oceania and MENA regions.

 

Estimations show that 222 million girls have been unable to access remote learning (UNESCO, 2020). One major factor is that many people in the Pacific live with limited and weak internet coverage (UNICEF, 2020). Some families cannot afford internet at home, or cannot afford to purchase multiple devices for every child (UNESCO, 2020).

 

The economic hardships of COVID brings back traditional thinking of what a girl’s role should be in society. Since the beginning of the pandemic, many girls had to support their families in acquiring extra income. The pandemic has also increased gender-based violence, early marriage, and teen pregnancy in most developing countries, negatively impacting access to education even further (UNESCO, 2020).