Data aggregated by region

DATA (%)	Net enrolment rate. Primary. Total.	Net enrolment rate. Primary. Male.	Net enrolment rate. Primary. Female.	Gender parity index for net enrolment rate. Primary.
YEAR	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004
COUNTRY
Arab States	79	80	81	82	84	84	84	85	75	76	77	79	0.90	0.91	0.92	0.92
Central and Eastern Europe	91	91	90	91	92	92	91	92	90	90	89	90	0.97	0.98	0.98	0.98
East Asia and the Pacific	96	94	93	94	96	94	93	94	96	94	92	94	1.00	1.00	0.99	0.99
South and West Asia	78	79	83	86	85	85	86	89	71	72	79	82	0.84	0.85	0.92	0.92
Sub-Saharan Africa	59	61	64	66	62	64	67	69	56	58	60	64	0.91	0.90	0.90	0.92

Source:http://stats.uis.unesco.org/TableViewer/tableView.aspx (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Education), last accessed on 22/03/07.

2.Secondary education

Country data

DATA (%)	Net enrolment rate. Secondary. Total.	Net enrolment rate. Secondary. Male.	Net enrolment rate. Secondary. Female.	Gender parity index for net enrolment rate. Secondary.
YEAR	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004
COUNTRY
Mauritania	14	15	16	14	16	17	18	16	13	13	14	13	0.79	0.76	0.78	0.82
Mozambique	3	4	-	4	4	5	-	5	3	4	-	4	0.71	0.74	-	0.78
Niger	5	5	6	7	6	6	7	8	4	4	4	5	0.69	0.68	0.69	0.68
Pakistan	-	-	-	22	-	-	-	25	-	-	-	18	-	-	-	0.73
Serbia and Montenegro	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sierra Leone	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Syrian Arab Republic	38	38	54	38	40	40	56	60	36	36	52	56	0.91	0.91	0.93	0.93
Vanuatu	33	37	37	39	35	38	40	42	32	36	34	36	0.92	0.95	0.84	0.86

Data aggregated by region

DATA (%)	Net enrolment rate. Secondary. Total.	Net enrolment rate. Secondary. Male.	Net enrolment rate. Secondary. Female.	Gender parity index for net enrolment rate. Secondary.
YEAR	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004
COUNTRY
Arab States	54	54	56	56	56	57	58	58	51	52	54	54	0.91	0.91	0.93	0.93
Central and Eastern Europe	83	83	84	82	84	84	85	83	82	82	83	81	0.98	0.98	0.98	0.98
East Asia and the Pacific	-	-	65	69	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
South and West Asia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sub-Saharan Africa	21	23	24	24	23	25	26	27	19	20	21	22	0.82	0.82	0.80	0.81

Source: http://stats.uis.unesco.org/TableViewer/tableView.aspx (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Education), last accessed on 22/03/07.

3.Tertiary education (ISCED 5 and 6)

Country data

DATA (%)	Gross enrolment ratio. ISCED 5 and 6. Total.	Gross enrolment ratio. ISCED 5 and 6. Male.	Gross enrolment ratio. ISCED 5 and 6. Female.	Gender parity index for gross enrolment ratio. ISCED 5 and 6.
YEAR	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004
COUNTRY
Mauritania	4	3	3	3	6	5	5	5	1	1	1	2	0.20	0.27	0.27	0.31
Mozambique	-	-	1	1	-	-	1	2	-	-	1	1	-	-	0.47	0.46
Niger	-	-	1	1	-	-	1	1	-	-	nil	nil	-	-	0.40	0.40
Pakistan	-	3	3	3	-	3	3	4	-	2	2	3	-	0.81	0.81	0.80
Serbia and Montenegro	36	-	-	-	33	-	-	-	40	-	-	-	1.20	-	-	-
Sierra Leone	2	2	-	-	3	3	-	-	1	1	-	-	0.40	0.40	-	-
Syrian Arab Republic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Vanuatu	4	5	5	5	-	6	6	6	-	4	4	4	-	0.56	0.58	0.58

Data aggregated by region

DATA (%)	Gross enrolment ratio. ISCED 5 and 6. Total.	Gross enrolment ratio. ISCED 5 and 6. Male.	Gross enrolment ratio. ISCED 5 and 6. Female.	Gender parity index for gross enrolment ratio. ISCED 5 and 6.
YEAR	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004	2001	2002	2003	2004
COUNTRY
Arab States	19	20	19	21	21	22	20	21	18	18	18	20	0.83	0.85	0.88	0.95
Central and Eastern Europe	44	48	51	54	40	43	46	48	49	53	57	60	1.21	1.24	1.24	1.25
East Asia and the Pacific	17	19	21	23	19	21	22	24	14	16	19	21	0.75	0.75	0.89	0.89
South and West Asia	9	10	10	11	11	11	12	12	8	8	8	9	0.70	0.71	0.70	0.70
Sub-Saharan Africa	4	4	5	5	5	5	6	6	3	3	4	4	0.61	0.62	0.61	0.61

Source: http://stats.uis.unesco.org/TableViewer/tableView.aspx (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Education), last accessed on 22/03/07.

B.Country-specific reports

Mauritania

Education

Mauritania is not a party to the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960) and did not report to UNESCO for the 6th consultation on the implementation of the Recommendation against Discrimination in Education (1960). UNESCO is now expecting to receive a comprehensive quality report for the 7th consultation.

UNESCO encourages Mauritania to ratify the Convention on Technical and Vocational Education (1989).

According to its Constitution, adopted in 1991, Mauritania guarantees equality before the law to all of its citizens without distinction as to origin, race, sex, or social condition (Art. 1 §2). The inalienable guarantee of the right to equality, the fundamental freedoms and rights of human beings, and economic and social rights, are also proclaimed.

Fellowships

One Co-Sponsored Fellowship (UNESCO/L’Oréal) in the field of life sciences/molecular analysis of disease resistance in arabidopsis thaliana for 12 months at the University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa (value: $21,816) was awarded to a woman scientist.

Mozambique

Education

Mozambique is not a party to the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education and did not report to UNESCO for the 6th consultation on the implementation of the Recommendation against Discrimination in Education. UNESCO is now expecting to receive a comprehensive quality report for the 7th consultation.

UNESCO encourages Mozambique to ratify the Convention on Technical and Vocational Education.

According to its Constitution of 1990, education is a right and a duty of all citizens and the State promotes the extension of education to professional and continuing vocational training and equal access to the enjoyment of this right by all citizens (Art. 88). Mozambique promotes an educational strategy that aims towards national unity, wiping out illiteracy, mastering science and technology and providing citizens with moral and civic values (Art. 113).

UNESCO participated in the Second Meeting of African and Spanish Women organized by the Governments of Spain and Mozambique on the occasion of the celebrations of International Women’s Day on 7 and 8 March 2007 in Madrid. The aim of the meeting was to create opportunities for collaboration in areas such as education, health and intercultural dialogue.

The UNESCO Africa Department carried out several activities in Mozambique to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality, such as the strengthening of the capacities of women in rural areas through literacy and non-formal education; promotion of technical and vocational education among girls; training in craftwork and development of activities related to HIV/AIDS preventive education.

P articipation P rogramme

Within the framework of the Participation Programme, UNESCO allocated $20,000 to a project on “Empowering women in rural areas in Mozambique” through the promotion of activities on literacy and non-formal education. In addition, a project on “Vocational training and self-employment opportunities for women and out-of-school youth in Mozambique” was funded under Portugal funds-in-trust for a total amount of $175,150.

Upon the request of the Ministry of Education of Mozambique, an interregional technical mission was sent to Mozambique to assist the Ministry with the operationalization and acceleration of the implementation of the national Strategy for Gender Equity in the Education Sector, and to advise the UNESCO Maputo field office on how to support the Ministry in this process.

Fellowships

One RP-UNESCO Fellowship in support of priority programme areas in the field of development studies for six months at the Institute of Social Development of the University of Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa ($10,100) was awarded to a woman scientist.

Niger

Education

The Niger has been a party to the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education since 1968 but did not report to UNESCO within the 6th consultation on the implementation of the Convention and Recommendation against Discrimination in Education. UNESCO has received the State report for the 7th consultation.

The Niger ratified the Convention on Technical and Vocational Education in 1992.

According to its Constitution of 1999, each person has the right to life, health, security, physical well-being, education and instruction according to conditions established by law (Art. 11). Parents have the right and the duty to raise and educate their children. The State safeguards the equal opportunity of handicapped persons as far as their advancement and/or social reintegration is concerned (Art. 19).

UNESCO is working closely with the Ministry of Basic and Non Formal Education in the Niger in the framework of a project on “Fight against poverty: capacity-building of girls and women in rural areas” financed by external donors. The general objective of this project, under the coordination of the Ministry of Basic and Non Formal Education, is to target poverty, through education and the promotion of human rights. It aims to reinforce the capacities of girls and women, notably through better schooling for girls, women’s literacy, training of young girls and the empowerment of women through the implementation of income-generating activities and the sensitization on human rights. More than 2,500 persons, mostly girls and women, will profit from this project, which is being launched in six villages in the south of the capital, Niamey. This rural region lacks school infrastructure, qualified teachers and support mechanisms for income-generating activities, mechanisms that could assist families in their fight against poverty.

Specific activities include the following:

•Increase access to primary schools: the aim is to significantly increase the number of girls and boys enrolled in school, provide these children with an appropriate learning environment and thus substantially and very concretely contribute to the Education for All initiative. Around 400 children will have an increased opportunity to benefit from primary education.

•Ensure that all adults, particularly women, have access to quality functional literacy classes: around 1,000 women from the six villages will benefit from the literacy classes, which will start in mid-2007. The literacy programmes will be implemented in parallel with other partners’ activities such as post-literacy activities, microfinance, human rights sensitization, health care, etc.

•Guarantee quality education and human rights sensitization: quality education must be ensured through a better learning environment, making learning relevant and sensitive to the life situation of the learners, capitalizing on modern methods of inclusiveness and helping those in need. This must be achieved through a sustained and sustainable effort involving both implementing partners and the Ministry of Basic Education and Literacy to train teachers to be proficient in both “standard” school subjects and in various issues such as human rights, gender, life-skills, health and HIV/AIDS prevention.

•Human rights education to fight against poverty among women.

•Bilingual teaching in the Niger: supporting girls’ education in the Niger.

Fellowships

One RP-UNESCO Fellowship in support of priority programme area in the field of non-formal education for six months at the University of Lomé, Lomé ($11,300) was awarded to a woman scientist.

Pakistan

Education

Pakistan is not a party to the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education but did report to UNESCO for the 6th consultation on the implementation of the Recommendation against Discrimination in Education in 1998. UNESCO is now hoping to receive a comprehensive quality report for the 7th consultation.

UNESCO also encourages Pakistan to ratify the Convention on Technical and Vocational Education.

The Constitution (1973) ensures equality and well-being of all citizens, and no discrimination on the basis of sex, caste, creed or race. Article 37 indicates that “The State shall: (a) promote with special care the educational and economic interests of backward classes or areas; (b) remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory education within the minimum possible period; and (c) make technical and professional education generally available and higher education equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.”

The national education policy review process in Pakistan was supported through an expert round table on policy issues in gender. Furthermore, UNESCO promoted advocacy activities on the status and role of female teachers in Pakistan during the Education for All Week.

Science

Within the framework of the project “For breaking the poverty cycle of women”, UNESCO organized three meetings in Islamabad on the theme “Sensitizing science”. The objective of the meetings was to raise awareness among scientists and Governments on how to use science and technology to fight against poverty and exclusion and to respect human rights. As a result of the meeting, several scientific literacy programmes were created for disadvantaged girls and their communities.

Fellowships

•One Co-Sponsored Fellowship (UNESCO/L’Oréal) in the field of life sciences for six months at the University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ($20,548) was awarded to a woman scientist.

•One UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi (Japan) Co-Sponsored Research Fellowship in the field of peaceful conflict resolution for three months in the Herry L. Stimson Center, Washington, D.C. ($7,500) was awarded to a woman researcher.

•One UNESCO/Suzanne Mubarak/Japan-Egypt Friendship Research Fellowship for the empowerment of women in the field of women and culture of peace and development for four months in the Bibliotheca Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt ($7,500) was awarded to a woman researcher.

•One RP-UNESCO Fellowship in support of priority programme area in the field of Science Technology Policy Studies for three months at the University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ($15,000) was awarded to a woman scientist.

Serbia

Education

Serbia has been a party to the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education since September 2001. UNESCO is expecting to receive a comprehensive quality report for the 7th consultation.

UNESCO encourages Serbia to ratify the Convention on Technical and Vocational Education.

Article 71 of the Constitution of 2003 is devoted to the right to education and expresses the principle that everyone shall have the right to education. The provisions of the Article stipulate that primary education is mandatory and free, and secondary education is free. All citizens have access to higher education under equal conditions. Serbia provides for free tertiary education to successful and talented students of lower property status in accordance with the law. Establishment of schools and universities is regulated by the law.

Communication and information

The Eurovision Regional News Exchange is a news exchange network of 12 public broadcasters from the Balkans and other South-Eastern European countries that was launched in December 2003 in order to strengthen cooperation, reconciliation and peace in the region. The countries have been exchanging daily news through European Broadcasting Union’s Eurovision Satellite since November 2001.

UNESCO has supported separate activities within the framework of the Eurovision Regional News Exchange, including the production of a documentary film on illegal trafficking of girls and women. This 25-minute documentary Women t rafficking, recently screened in UNESCO headquarters in Paris on the occasion of the International Women’s Day 2007, investigates the social and cultural contexts of women trafficking in South-Eastern Europe, drawing attention to the factors that contribute to trafficking — specifically lack of education of young girls, violence against women, poverty and pervasive gender inequality. This film aims at collecting information about the cases of women trafficking, victims profiles, trafficking routes; identifying the results of international and regional counter-trafficking initiatives, the results of government involvement and national plans of action and good practices and gaps in the work of specialized non-governmental organizations and international organizations; and presenting repatriation and reintegration approaches.

Fellowships

•One RP-UNESCO Fellowship in support of priority programme areas in the field of history of byzantine arts for six months at the University of Paris I — Panthéon-Assas, Paris ($10,500) was awarded to a woman researcher.

•One Co-Sponsored Fellowship (UNESCO/Japan: Obuchi) in the field of intercultural dialogue for nine months in the Foundation Fernando Ortiz, Havana ($10,000) was awarded to a woman scientist.

•One RP-UNESCO Fellowship in support of priority programme areas in the field of culture plastic arts for six months at the University of Paris VIII, St. Denis, France ($14,800) was awarded to a woman researcher.

Sierra Leone

Education

Sierra Leone has been a party to the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education since 1967 but did not report to UNESCO within the 6th consultation on the implementation of the Convention and Recommendation against Discrimination in Education. UNESCO is now encouraging Sierra Leone to submit a comprehensive quality report for the 7th consultation.

UNESCO also encourages Sierra Leone to ratify the Convention on Technical and Vocational Education.

Article 9 (1) of the Constitution of 1991 states that the Government directs its policy towards ensuring that there are equal rights and adequate educational opportunities for all citizens at all levels by: (a) ensuring that every citizen is given the opportunity to be educated to the best of his ability, aptitude and inclination by providing educational facilities at all levels and aspects of education such as primary, secondary, vocational, technical, college and university; (b) safeguarding the rights of vulnerable groups, such as children, women and the disabled in security educational facilities; and (c) providing the necessary structures, finance and supportive facilities for education as and when practicable. According to Article 9 (2), the Government strives to eradicate illiteracy and, to this end, directs its educational policy towards achieving: (a) free adult literacy programmes; (b) free compulsory basic education at primary and junior secondary school levels; and (c) free senior secondary education as and when practicable. The third paragraph of Article 9 stipulates that the Government promotes the learning of indigenous languages and the study and application of modern science, foreign languages, technology, commerce and business.

Participation Programme

Within the framework of the UNESCO Participation Programme, the Sierra Leone National Commission demonstrated a strong commitment to mainstreaming gender in UNESCO fields of competence in a situation of post-conflict through a number of projects. The aim of the following projects is to promote social reintegration of girls and women: the establishment of a centre for lifelong skills for war-affected widows and girl mothers received $18,000, and the funding of income-generating activities for rural isolated women and young girls received $13,000. In addition, within the framework of the emergency assistance programme 2006-2007, UNESCO granted an amount of $50,000 to the development of educational programmes in post-conflict situations with a particular focus on girls.

Syrian Arab Republic

Education

The Syrian Arab Republic is not a party to the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education but reported to UNESCO for the 6th consultation on the implementation of the Recommendation against Discrimination in Education in 1997. UNESCO is now hoping to receive a comprehensive quality report for the 7th consultation.

UNESCO encourages the Syrian Arab Republic to ratify the Convention on Technical and Vocational Education.

According to the Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic, adopted in 1980, education shall be a right guaranteed by the State. It shall be free in all stages and compulsory in the elementary stage. The State shall endeavour to make other stages compulsory and shall supervise education and direct it in a manner ensuring adapting it to the needs of society and production (Art. 37).

Fellowships

•One Co-Sponsored Fellowship (UNESCO/L’Oréal) in the field of life sciences/biotechnology for six months at the Molecular Genetics Department of Hannover University, Hannover, Germany ($21,015) was awarded to a woman scientist.

•One UNESCO/Suzanne Mubarak/Japan-Egypt Friendship Research Fellowship for the empowerment of women in the field of women and culture of peace and development for three months in the Bibliotheca Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt ($7,500) was awarded to a woman researcher.

Vanuatu

Education

Vanuatu is not a party to the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education and did not report to UNESCO for the 6th consultation on the implementation of the Recommendation against Discrimination in Education. UNESCO encourages Vanuatu to submit a comprehensive quality report for the 7th consultation.

UNESCO encourages Vanuatu to ratify the Convention on Technical and Vocational Education.

Article 7 of the Constitution of July 1980 stipulates that every person has the following fundamental duties to himself and his descendants and to others: in the case of a parent, to support, assist and educate all his children, legitimate and illegitimate, and in particular to give them a true understanding of their fundamental rights and duties and of the national objectives and of the culture and customs of the people of Vanuatu.