ABSTRACT
Human rights, education, work, and national development have been inextricably linked with the formation of the United Nations (UN) in 1945. Since that time international development policies as well as human rights policies have increasingly echoed the conclusion that women and girls should be both active participants in and beneficiaries of the development of their states. Education and work opportunities are key factors in that participation. Yet ideas about education and work for women are deeply embedded in local cultural, religious, and family norms, which may be in conflict with governmental or international edicts. This chapter explores the constraints placed on women’s access to education and work. The first part focuses on the inclusion of gender issues in key international human rights documents and the feminist criticism of, as well as contributions, to these policies. The rest of the chapter reviews the liberal feminist assessment of constraints imposed on equal rights in education and work.
