From Malala to the girls of Chibok in Nigeria, in many parts of the world, there is a war being waged against girls’ education. Women’s human rights scholar and practitioner Rangita de Silva de Alwis, S.J.D. led a discussion on this issue during the presentation, Attacks Against Girls’ Education as a Tactic of Terror.
“Malala remains a powerful symbol of girls whose lives are under attack for attending school, but thousands of other girls are threatened daily for their temerity in attending school,” said de Silva de Alwis. During the presentation she expanded on this and discussed the urgent need to adopt a United Nations Security Council Resolution addressing the issue. “Despite Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security and its progeny, no security council resolution addresses attacks on girl’s education directly,” she said, “Given that attacks against girl’s education have become strategic weapons of war, it is important to adopt a UNSCR that addresses attacks against girls’ education as a tool of terror.”
Throughout her career, Rangita de Silva de Alwis, S.J.D., has worked with networks of global institutions, civil society, and government organizations to develop human rights initiatives. She is a senior scholar at WCW and was the director of international human rights policy programs there until 2012. She was the inaugural director of the Global Women’s Leadership Initiative and the Women in Public Service Project launched by Secretary Hillary Clinton and the Seven Sisters Colleges at Wellesley College, which then moved to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She is currently the associate dean of international affairs at University of Pennsylvania Law School where she teaches international women’s human rights law.
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