Empowering Women through Brain Education
What has been done to address key issues dealing with gender equality, poverty and human rights over the last 15 years? The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) recently undertook a 15-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The Beijing Declaration came as a result of the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, and put forth an agenda for women's empowerment around the world. In 1995, 189 governments and more than 5,000 representatives from 2,100 non-governmental organizations participated in that conference in Beijing, which promised to remove the obstacles to women's public participation in all spheres of public and private lives through equality in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making.
CSW's review was held from March 1-12, 2010, with more than 200 events for the international community to discuss key issues including poverty, education and training, health, violence against women, armed conflict, economy, power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms, human rights, media, environment and girls.
“Gender inequality is always there,” said Hanifa Mezoui, Ph.D., President of the UN-ONG-IRENE Association, speaking as emcee at “Empowering Women through Brain Education” a side-event of the CSW conference sponsored by The Korea Institute of Brain Science (KIBS), a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. “Young people should not ignore this struggle because it seems out-of-date in their own countries.”
With the backdrop of the United Nations’ flags and the imposing blue-green UN building just across the street, Mezoui said we must analyze what has been accomplished in the last few years and make the necessary adjustments to fulfill the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. “Finding the key to unlocking individual attitudes toward gender roles remains elusive because they are closely linked to cultural, societal and religious factors that determine how men and women define their roles and attitudes towards each other,” she said, noting that we are all under development when it comes to gender equality, no matter how advanced the nation.
Rim Othman, M.A., who teaches classes Arabic Language and Culture and Women in the Muslim World at Manhattan College, presented the 1999 documentary, Crimes of Honour. Filmed in Jordan and the West Band, the 44-minute film document femicide – the killing of women suspected of losing their virginity (even if they were raped), refusing an arranged marriage or leaving their husbands. As the film played silently behind her, Othman, made comments expressing her dismay that, even now, women of the world are still suffering from sex trafficking, forced prostitution, mass rape and maternal mortality, which claim one woman “every minute.” The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that the annual worldwide total number of honor-killing victims may be as high as 5,000.
Othman suggested that Brain Education – the educational method that develops the full potential of the brain, eliminates stress, improves communication, and enhances learning – can help change our deep-rooted cultural preconceptions that limit the individual’s power to make progressive changes. “We should enlighten people by teaching them the best way to use their brains and get rid of useless traditions and backward practices that hinder nations’ progress,” she said.
In South Korea, where women often have traditional designated roles, Passion Jun, M.D., Main Representative for KIBS, said that understanding how to use her brain with Brain Education helped her realize the power and control she has over her life and the great influence she can have on her community and the ability to break out of the traditional designated women's role. “As we learn about the brain, we can better understand and respect ourselves and others.” She said that the essential five steps of Brain Education can help women create meaningful and influential lives.
Jun instructed the audience through a few basic stretches that can instantly refresh one’s mood and thoughts – proving the simplicity of BE.
“To keep our brains healthy, we need to constantly reinvent ourselves,” said Elkhonon Goldberg, Ph.D., Clinical Professor of Neurology at New York University School of Medicine. Goldberg discussed the executive functions of the brain and the physical differences between the male and female brain.
Executive functions, located in the frontal lobes (the most developed in humans compared to any other species), are responsible for making decisions, planning, foresight, mental flexibility, impulse control and handling new or uncertain situations. Goldberg emphasized the concept of neuroplasticity – the brain’s capacity to change.
“Ramón Y Cajal won the Nobel Prize 100 years ago for saying the opposite,” he said. (Cajal, a Spanish physician and pathologist, won the prize in 1906 “in recognition of his work on the structure of the nervous system.”) Goldberg said that anyone can improve their personal lives using basic brain information. The differences between the male and female brain should be considered when identifying the strengths of each sex, he said, not for generating inaccurate and possibly harmful stereotypes or treatment.
“We have made progress, but we are not satisfied,” Mohammadi Siddiqui, honorary member of the Constituent Assembly and Legislature Parliament of Nepal, said about the current status of women in Nepal and what needs to be done for progressive change. Ms. Siddiqui, Representing Muslim women, is determined to make modifications in Nepal’s Constitution that will support the growth and eliminate the abuse and suffering of women there. The international community must work together in order to make progress, Siddiqui said. Improvements in education are also essential to this vision. “Brain Education is an effective tool for supporting women on an individual level,” she said.
While there were different approaches on how to best achieve progress on gender equality, most presenters at “Empowering Women through Brain Education” stressed the necessity for working together – and that change can happen as soon as we change ourselves. “It doesn’t take shrewd politicians to solve global social problems… the solutions should come from the people themselves,” Othman said.
“Even though we have good information in our brain, if we don’t use it, it’s useless,” said Yu-Jung Lim, M.A., project coordinator at the IBREA Foundation (International Brain Education Association), an affiliate organization of KIBS. “Everyone can participate and benefit from our programs,” said Lim, outlining their outreach projects and global initiatives including Brain Education Online, the Earth Citizen Movement and Brain Tests Online. “When you choose it, it will happen!” said Lim.
For videos of the workshop, visit http://www.youtube.com/user/IBREAFoundation.
For more information on the CSW conference at the United Nations, visit www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/index.html.
For more on the documentary crimes of honor, visit
http://icarusfilms.com/new99/crimehon.html.
Checkout www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ for more information on the MDGs
For more information about Dr. Goldberg and his work, visit his website at www.elkhonongoldberg.com.