Jeddah 8th March 2023: The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), on the occasion of the ‘International Women’s Day 2023’ recognizes that denying women and girls from their basic right to education including exposure to scientific and digital technologies has not only widened the digital divide but also caused a colossal loss of 1$ trillion from the gross domestic product of low and middle-income countries in the last decade. This loss will grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025 if no timely affirmative action is taken. The wanton and negligent exclusion of women and girls from academia, science and technology and information digital technologies has resulted into a state where women represent only 2 in every 10 science, engineering and information and communication technology jobs and only 16.5 percent of inventors listed on international patent applications globally. These are tale tell signs of a human rights neglect which requires global unified action both at the policy and implementation level to eliminate the root causeswhich include (i) regressive and discriminatory socio-cultural mindset, norms and laws that restrict women and girls’ access to opportunities, resources and power (ii) gender insensitive chronic under investment in social sectors of health and education (iii) asymmetry in awareness and access to information (iv) exclusion and non-participatory planning, decision making and resource allocation; and (v) violence against women, the Commission added.
The Commission highlights that the OIC Member States, within the framework of its Ten-Year Plan of Action, OIC Plan of Action for Advancement of Women and OIC Cairo Declaration of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Human Rightshas been focusing on key areas of development and empowerment of women to promote the status of women in the Muslim world and provide them with equal opportunities to pursue diverse careers including science and technology. To this end, the Commission, while hailing the contribution of Muslim women during COVID-19 as medics and care givers and many others championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education, welcomes the initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to send first female astronauts Ms. Rayyanah Barnawi and Ms. Mariam Firdous to International Space Station which is reflective of the progress being made byMuslim women and girls in the field of science and technology. It also has helped in shattering the regressive stereotypes about their roles in different walks of life including non-traditional areas of learning and expertise which were previously held as men only domain.
The Commission, while welcoming the progress made by Member States towards equality and equity and women empowerment over the past decades expressed concern that the progress remains slow and uneven with glaring inequalities and deficiencies. There are challenges where women and girls, in some parts of the Muslim world, continue to face regressive, disproportionate and discriminatory ban on education which is in contradiction with the Islamic principles and international human rights law. Further, the Commission upholds that the right of women and girls to all levels of education, including tertiary level, is a fundamental right which must be respected by all at all times without any discrimination. Any denial of the right to education tantamount to denying women to effectively contributing to the development which will have devastating impact on the State and society. Such arbitrary actions are in violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, (Article 10), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Articles 2 and 13; General Comments 13 and 16), Convention on the Rights of the Child, (Articles 2, 28 and 29; General Comment 1), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (Articles 2, 3, 24, 25 and 26), OIC Charter, OIC Ten Year Program of Action-2025, OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women in the Member States.
The Commission, recognizing the importance of addressing the challenges, underlined the need to adopt women-friendly approaches to sustainable development by taking into account women’s needs, concerns, knowledge, enterprise, and skills to enable policymakers to develop appropriate policies that ensure equitable distribution of resources for just and inclusive societies. The Member States are urged to allocate at least 5 percent of their respective Gross Domestic Product to education with positive discrimination for skill oriented vocational trainings to women and girls including science and technology to enable women and girls to actively participate in economic, social and cultural development on equal footing.
