infrastructure services, such as running water, electricity and sewage systems and that most villages lack schools, health clinics and access roads. The Naqab Bedouin have the highest rate of unemployment in the country, and the worst school retention and matriculation record. Bedouin women are further constrained by the harsh patriarchal tradition of their community, which has implications in every aspect of women’s lives. Thus, without education or employment, Bedouin women are denied any possibility for improving their own lives or exerting a positive impact on their families and their communities. She noted that many adult Bedouin women remain marginalized and illiterate, hence the need for adult women’s education and literacy trainings. Although the situation is slightly improving, illiteracy is still present among girls today, since many unrecognized villages don’t have elementary schools and the dropout rate for girls is the highest in the country. She emphasized the need to address adult Bedouin women’s education as part of an integral empowerment process to improve self-esteem and increase their communications and leadership skills and the need for economic and workforce development support provided in the form of vocational training, financial literacy and small business development. She concluded with recommendations aimed at addressing the high rate of minority girls’ dropping out of school, including: increased access to early childhood education and high school education for young girls in villages;; scholarships and other forms of financial assistance must be made available for girls and boys, with a focus on girls who forego learning due to their difficult financial situation; and increasing the awareness and involvement of local men. Ms. Maria Joyce, Coordinator of the National Traveller Women's Forum Ireland, made a presentation on the situation of Irish Travellers and the Irish education system. She underlined the denial of ethnic status to Travellers by the Irish Government. The population profile of Travellers was similar to that of developing countries with a high birth rate and a young population coupled with high mortality rates and a life expectancy much lower than that in the general population, with Traveller women having a life expectancy which is 11.5 years less than women in the general population. She noted the important role of data collection as a mechanism for assessing and monitoring the situation of Traveller women and noted that some progress has been made but in areas such as education, monitoring of the situation of Traveller women was virtually nonexistent. She noted the history of segregation and disregard for Travellers in education policy and practice. Progress has however been made since 2003, including through the creation of a joint working group by the Department of Education and Science, within which Travellers, including women, could participate in the formulation of policy related to education. This process has led to the development of a Traveller Education Strategy based on the principle of an inclusive mainstream education provision. In addition to the recession in Ireland, she noted that critical issues that still need to be addressed include ensuring that Travellers have access to schools and that Travellers are in the curriculum. 10