11:00- 13:00 Minority women and girls and the right to education Hannan Elsaneh 44% of the total number of girls. Indicating, more than 50% of girls above 15 years are illiterate. Findings from a recent survey conducted by the Galilee Society in 2009 indicated that the illiteracy rate among the Naqab Arab women ranges from 13.2% for women 35 to 39 years to 61.4% for women 50 to 59 years to 92.3 % 60 years and older (See table 1) Table 1: Illiteracy Rates by Age Group amongst the Naqab Bedouin Women Illiteracy rate (%) Range age (Years) 35-39 13.2 These rates are closer 40-44 31.7 to reality and they 45-49 61.4 50-59 53.5 somewhat match the 60+ 92.3 figures Sidreh found in its surveys. Sidreh survey in 1999 showed that women illiteracy rate in the unrecognized villages was equal to their unemployment rate, 90%. Intervention Projects and Recommendations 1. The role of the Third Sector: Joining Forces: Many NGO sin the Naqab provide literacy classes for women, slightly reducing the illiteracy rate among them For example, Sidreh alone in its 12 years gave the opportunity to 1400 Bedouin woman to read and write .and they are another NGO However, most of these organizations are proven unsuccessful, because of the following reasons: 3 1. Inadequate curriculum or methodology: service providers tend to use elementary school curriculums to teach adult women or they fail to adapt foreign curriculums that are alien and inaccessible to the target population. 2. Limited coverage and unscalable results; Together, these organizations work only in 25% of the 52 villages 3. High dependency on donations and external financial support, which leads to unsustainable or discontinued interventions 4. Lack of adequate facilities to conduct classes including limited access to ICTs (Information communication Technologies) 5. Lack of trained and qualified teaching team and teaching materials