people and planet

3
FIGURE 3.10:
In most countries, women with higher levels of education are less likely
to have undergone female genital mutilation
Percentage of women who have experienced female genital cutting (FGC),
selected countries
Women who have undergone female
genital mutilation (%)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Uganda 2011
No education
Primary
Secondary
Higher
Average
Niger 2012
Togo 2013
Ghana 2003
Benin 2011
Source: The DHS Program (2016).
U. R. Tanzania 2010
Yemen 2013
Kenya 2014
Senegal 2014
Nigeria 2013
Côte d’Ivoire 2011
with less educated men were found to be more likely to suffer
from psychological and physical violence (Bjelland, 2014).
Education can affect women’s political participation
and engagement by imparting skills which enable them
to participate in democratic processes (see Chapter 4:
Peace). Educated women are more likely to participate
in civic life and advocate for community improvements.
Numeracy enables individuals to question and critique
government data, strengthening accountability.
Conversely, low education levels, negative attitudes
and stereotypes, and lack of strong role models, as in
Ethiopia, all contribute to women’s ability to participate
in decision-making positions (Kassa, 2015).
EDUCATION CAN HAVE SIMULTANEOUS
BENEFITS ON HEALTH AND GENDER ISSUES
The effects of education, whether formal, non-formal or
informal, are not simple or linear. Not only can education
have powerful outcomes for health and gender equality
separately, but as this section shows, education can
support gendered areas of health, and health aspects
of gender. First, maternal education can have powerful
Gambia 2013
Burkina Faso 2010
Sierra Leone 2013
Mali 2012
Egypt 2008
Guinea 2012
intergenerational effects which can transform societies.
Second, because gender is often erroneously associated
only with women, examples will be given of the effects of
education on the health of men and boys.
Education has large intergenerational benefits in many
areas of children’s lives, and these payoffs persist over
time (UNESCO, 2014). Educated parents – mothers in
particular – are better able to feed their children well
(from exclusive breastfeeding in the first few months of
life to a good quality, diversified diet later) and to keep
them in good health.
Maternal education has long been identified as a major
determinant of child mortality, independently of income
(Smith-Greenaway, 2013). Mothers with more education
are more likely to seek prenatal care, birth attendance
by trained medical personnel, immunization and modern
medical care for their young children. They are also more
likely to protect their young children from health risks,
for instance by boiling water and avoiding unsafe food.
Evidence from Guatemala, Mexico, Nepal, the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela and Zambia showed that literacy
predicted mothers’ ability to read printed health
messages, understand radio messages and explain
their child’s condition to a health professional, and was
associated with health-seeking behaviour (LeVine and
Rowe, 2009). Higher maternal education was found to
improve infant health in the United States, a finding linked
to the fact that more educated women were more likely
to be married, use prenatal care and reduce smoking
(Currie and Moretti, 2003).
Short-term education programmes that support mothers
of young children can have a significant impact on
health and nutrition outcomes. They can help promote
exclusive breastfeeding for infants aged less than 6
months, as recommended by WHO to achieve optimum
growth; the most recent data indicate that only 47% of
infants in least developed countries were exclusively
breastfed (UNICEF, 2016). A systematic review of 66
studies (including 27 in lower income countries) showed
that short-term breastfeeding education increased the
average share of mothers exclusively breastfeeding by
43% on the day of birth, 30% during the first month
and 90% during the second to sixth months, with the
largest increases in lower income countries. Programmes
combining individual and group counselling appeared
to be most effective, whether facility- or communitybased
(Haroon et al., 2013). Short-term programmes also
can reduce the prevalence of stunting in lower income
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CHAPTER 3 | PEOPLE: INCLUSIVE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT