Partnerships forged in this manner between companies in Iceland and developing countries have lead to transfer of technology in this field thereby spurring economic growth and development. Mr. President, The benefits of the globalization of the world s economy are unfortunately far from being evenly spread and we have been witnessing an appaling trend whereby the curse of poverty has increasingly been falling on women. This feminization of poverty is happening when women in many regions of the world are finding themselves both as sole caretakers of children and families, and in many cases their sole providers. There are no easy answers on how to tackle this problem in the short term but in order to find a long term solution focus has to be put on enhancing the education of women as well as respect for their human rights. Education and social development go hand in hand and are prerequisites for a peaceful and prosperous world.
Education is a central tool in eliminating gender discrimination.
Equal access to formal education has to be ensured for both sexes. But education for women in order to achieve equality does not only entail access to formal education. It also includes the impact that education has on and for women. Better access has therefore to result in empowerment. In order to reach that objective human rights education is required for both men and women aiming at tackling gender discrimination which is the root cause of unequal access to resources and economic benefits.