VIOLATIONS OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS

WHEREAS, international events have brought renewed attention to the ongoing violations of women's basic human rights and throughout the world. The status of women under the Taliban in

In U.S.-funded foreign healthcare facilities, women and girls are denied accurate reproductive health information.  Many millions of girls are engaged in compulsory child labor, are forced into early marriages and are compelled to live in total subservience to the men in their families.  More than 6,000 girls a day are subjected to painful and brutalizing genital mutilation. In China, babies are allowed to die, or are drowned or suffocated, simply because they are girls. In South East Asia, girls and women are forced to eat last and to eat least, with disastrous consequences, including alarmingly high levels of maternal and infant mortality.  Throughout the world, the leading cause of death for girls and women 14 to 44 is the violence they experience in their own homes.  While women make up half of the world's population, they represent 70 percent of the world's poor and two-thirds of those who are not taught to read or write.

Across the globe today, more than 65 million girls are denied an education, one of the most effective tools to help elevate the status of women.  This denial of a basic human right has serious implications for those girls, their families and the countries where they live.  Without an education, girls are more likely to live in poverty, to give birth to ill and hungry children, to be exploited economically and sexually, and to die young.  Without an education, girls are denied the opportunities to live a fulfilling life and to participate fully in the life of their families, their communities and their societies.

We know that education is a key to economic development and leads to the reduction of individual illness and mortality rates.  With educated girls, countries throughout the world are able to improve the health, well-being and educational prospects of the next generation while at the same time reducing poverty and promoting sounder management of environmental resources.  An education for girls can mean the difference between life and death for millions.

World leaders agreed in 2000 at the U.N. Millennium Summit to ensure that girls and boys would have an equal opportunity to receive an education by 2005. Despite this agreement, UNICEF predicts that girls' access to education worldwide will not reach that of boys until 2025, and in some areas, such as Africa, not until 2100. That rate of progress is unacceptable.  All countries must make a real commitment to education, and wealthier nations must make a greater commitment to help those who lack adequate resources.

RESOLVED, that the AFT reassert its commitment to the rights of women, at home and internationally, and commit to participate in international campaigns that seek to promote equality of opportunity for women and girls in education, healthcare, the provision of social services and every area of economic, political and social activity.

We call on the United States government to provide substantial funding in support of the needs of women around the world who struggle against poverty, disease, exploitation and violence.

We urge the United States to join again in cooperation with international organizations promoting the reproductive health of women, free of ideological bias or restrictions on the ability of healthcare providers to offer accurate medical advice.

We rededicate ourselves to the promotion of the "Education for All" movement, particularly with an emphasis on education programs focused on the underserved needs of women and girls.

And we recommit ourselves to giving a high legislative priority to efforts that would increase U.S. funding for international educational assistance programs, including programs that focus on the particular and special needs of women and girls around the world.