Fatima’s parents cannot send her to school. They do not have the resources to pay her school supplies and indirect school fees. Instead, Fatima is obliged to stay at home, attend to domestic chores and take care of her younger siblings. This situation deprives Fatima of her right to education, rest and leisure, as well as an adequate standard of living for her family sufficient to enjoy her full development potential.
The rights Fatima is deprived of are all of equal importance. The causes of her rights violations are multiple and require a complex set of responses which might include:
- Policy dialogue on the elimination of indirect school fees to uphold the principle of universality in education;
- Direct support and incentives to Fatima’s family in terms of scholarships, transfer payments and school feeding programmes to enable her parents to enrol and maintain her in school;
- Teacher training and textbook revisions to eliminate gender discrimination and promote girl-friendly school environments;
- Capacity building in revenue generation for Fatima’s parents and awareness raising for her community on the importance of educating girls; and
- Policy dialogue with various levels of government on the need for increased resource allocation for rural infrastructure and economic stimulus in her region;
- Education policy reform to promote improved gender equality in education delivery and resource allocation.