From Jenn Mayfield, International Chair

On February 3, the Committee for Teaching About the UN (CTAUN) will hold its annual conference and the United Nations. The title of this year’s conference is “Education IS a Human Right.”

The concept of education as a human right was first formally written into international law in 1948. Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that every person has the right to a free and compulsory elementary education. Furthermore, it states that all technical, professional, and higher education should be “equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.” Since then, the right to education and its importance has been emphasized time and again. Still, about 69 million children are not in school. Around the world, the lack of access to education hinders development and social progress as unschooled children grow into uneducated, unempowered adults.

One in six adults cannot read or write, and two out of every three illiterate adults are women. This year’s CTAUN conference will explore the various factors that contribute to the gap between stated goals and targets and the actual results of education initiatives around the world.

This year, the CTAUN conference is especially exciting for New York State AAUW members. At the conference, Joan Monk and Cecilia Dinio-Durkin will be given an award for best practices by CTAUN. They are being honored for their My Sister’s Keeper Project, the NYS AAUW program aimed at international women’s issues. I am very excited to say that I will be attending the conference with Joan and Melissa Guardaro, the chair of the State International Committee.