October 15th, 2019 | Educating women and promoting women’s rights in developing countries has been a pressing topic among the delegates in GA 3. In some parts of the world, women are still being denied the right to education, which limits their job opportunities. Many delegates, including those of the developing countries being referred to, have created different resolutions to this issue, and have given their honest opinions on the resolutions of others.
The United States has lead a team of countries in the creation of the GHOST plan, which aims to distribute textbooks and learning resources from more progressive countries to those in need. “The GHOST Plan is basically a plan that encompasses a big sister program, which is a partnership between the more developed countries and the less developed so they can share and collaborate on textbook materials, classroom materials, teachers, and study abroad programs,” the U.S. delegate explains, “But not only does it encompass big sister programs, it also has the Golden Hour of Power, which is a time where you can inspire women about sexual assault, safety, and how education has impacted their lives”. When asked about how the U.S. plans to implement this without going against the culture and religion of the affected countries, which was a common question from many other delegates, the U.S. delegate replied, “In the cluster analysis, some people are saying that the survey is biased, but if you’re strictly taking the facts as in religion, people’s government status, their cultural values, and their languages, when you pair the countries up obviously you wouldn’t pair the U.S. with another country that doesn’t speak English. You’d try to keep countries similar to each other.”
While the GHOST Plan had some positive aspects, some parts of the plan did not sit well with the delegates of other countries. The delegate of Austria, who is in favor of the GHOST plan, suggested that biking be used for transportation by the women who are in need of protection when traveling to schools and other places to get their education. Delegates of countries such as Sweden and Germany have expressed their dislike of the idea. “It doesn’t make any sense,” said the German delegate, “You can start programs…, but like biking together, how’s that going to help?”.
Rather than supporting the GHOST plan, the German delegate advocated for the HELP Plan, which focuses on health, education, learning, and personal growth. “Health will mainly focus on access to water and feminine hygiene products. For education, we’re really looking at the infrastructure and the security for girls getting to school, because if it’s not secure and they don’t feel safe, they are not going to school,” says the German delegate, “As for learning, we looked at teachers from educated countries that speak the same language to go to different countries and help out there. We don’t want to send textbooks, like the U.S., because it’s a bad plan”. The personal growth aspect of the plan includes solving the issue of females not having job opportunities in their region after they complete schooling. The goal is to create job opportunities to encourage women to attend school.
HEADER: Rölz,Isabella. “Educating Women in Developing Countries”.The Borgen Project. Accessed October 15, 2019.