5 October 2008
Women's health and education have improved substantially in most countries, but progress is lagging on improving their economic opportunities, according to a new report released today.
The report was released by the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
"Investments of some 13 billion dollars (N1.5 trillion) a year are needed to achieve the overall goal of gender equality and women's empowerment," says the report, entitled: "Equality for Women: Where Do We Stand on Millennium Development Goal 3?".
"Gender equality is key for poverty reduction and growth," said Danny Leipziger, World Bank Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management(PREM), at the launch of the report in Washington .
"Progress on women's education is essential but not enough if we don't improve women's access to good jobs and credit lines, to land ownership and to income-generating activities," Leipzige noted.
Out of 122 countries for which data are available, according to the report, 82 achieved the third target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG3) of gender parity in primary and secondary enrolment by 2005.
However, 19 countries, 13 of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa , are seriously off track to meet this target.
In general, the report says that progress in expanding women's opportunities, through employment and political participation, has lagged behind progress in expanding women's capabilities in education and health.
While gender equality requires changing underlying social norms, the report points out that one particularly promising approach is to use financial incentives to change the behaviour of families toward girls and women.
"It is estimated that about 13 billion dollars per year are needed, using UN Millennium Project calculations, to achieve overall gender parity and women's empowerment ," the report says,
It suggested that this amount could be met if bilateral and multilateral donors, private foundations and others increased spending on MDG3.
According to the publication, several challenges remain to meet the official MDG 3 target, among which is to increase the education level of girls in secondary school in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
It also called for improvement in the education level of girls and boys in tertiary schooling in almost all regions, and the completion rate of education for all with a focus on keeping girls in school.
Since the official indicator of MDG3 to "eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and at all levels of education no later than 2015," has been criticised as overly narrow, the report suggests the use of a "MDG3 plus" approach.
This approach provides a more thorough measure of gender equality and supplement s the official target with other indicators.
The report notes that no country or region has achieved gender equality in all the areas covered by the MDG3 plus indicators.
The health indicators single out the high mortality rates of girls under age five in East Asia and Pacific and South Asia, as well as the high adolescent fertility rates in 36 countries, with a majority of those countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Also, the comparison of school attendance with labour force participation rates points to the need for targeted investments for adolescent girls to facilitate their transition from school to the labour market.
"The message that emerges is both hopeful and sobering," said Eckhard Deutscher, chairperson of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee.
"There has been some progress, but achieving gender equality and real opportunities for women's economic livelihoods will require more funding, efficient policies, and strong will.
"Once these three elements are aligned, progress will be rapid," according to Deutscher.
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