Measures needed to bring girls to schools: UN official

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

UN administrator Grynspan says Turkey still needs to tackle some inequalities.

Girls will continue to face obstacles in obtaining an education if more measures are not enacted, the United Nations’ under-secretary general and UNDP associate administrator has said.

“In many parts of the world, if you don’t have good facilities at school, for example in terms of access to washing and sanitation in the schools, or if you don’t talk to families to also bring girls to school when they become adolescents, and if you don’t advocate then you don’t convince [them],” Rebeca Grynspan recently told the Hürriyet Daily News. “Girls will continue to face obstacles to education.”

Recent education law

Grynspan said she was not familiar with a recent education law in Turkey that will allow students to opt out of school in favor of home study.

 “We have to take away obstacles against girls to include them in the educational system,” Grynspan said, adding that countries that aim for a brighter future needed to make education for girls and boys an equal opportunity.

Grynspan underlined the fact that development was a long-term commitment and that there
were still some inequalities which needed to be tackled in the Turkish reality.
“I am very encouraged by the decision of the government to very strongly tackle regional inequality,” the U.N. official said, adding that it could be the driving part behind why Turkey lagged behind in some of the human development indicators.

“I think if the government continues to focus on poverty reduction and fighting inequalities especially at the regional level and also in gender aspects, I think we’ll see even more progress in the comparative human development index position of Turkey,” she said.