Topic:
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Delegate Name: Jennasee Hollingworth
Due to challenges such as poverty, poor infrastructure, gender inequality, and violence, 129 million girls are currently experiencing a lack of education worldwide. In nations impacted by fragility, conflict, and/or violence, girls are over twice as likely to be out of school than their male counterparts. This makes it very difficult for women to get jobs, which not only impacts their living situation but also the economy.
In recent years, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has seen an improvement in our access to primary education. However, about 50% of girls 5-17 years of age in DRC still lack education. The gender role of women in DRC is that they are responsible for maintaining agriculture in order to feed their families, as well as taking care of the household and children. This is often done in small villages, which may limit access to education further. In many parts of DRC, communities are based on men having jobs and women handling all domestic work, which includes but is not limited to fetching water, food preparation, and gathering materials such as firewood. Fortunately, UKAid and UNICEF are currently implementing a pilot project to improve the accessibility to quality education for girls.
While giving women the opportunity to be educated is important, women and girls who spend their time maintaining their household should also be respected. Also, with the violence going on in this nation, the safety of women should be focused on more so than their education during this time. In order to solve this issue, DRC would appreciate continued support from France and the United States. Education for women and girls is a significant issue that deserves attention, but prioritizing it over solving the Democratic Republic of Congo’s urgent crises would most likely worsen the issue more than help it.
