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Amy Stilwell(202) 458-4906
Astilwell@worldbank.org WASHINGTON, February 24, 2005— From February 28 to March 11, the UN Commission on the Status of Women will meet in New York City to review progress on gender and development since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted in 1995. According to a new World Bank report, Improving Women's Lives: World Bank Actions Since Beijing (1.1 mb pdf), there is evidence that in the last 10 years, the lives of women and girls around the world have, on average, improved, due in part to concerted action by the international community and national governments:
Female education levels have improved considerably. In 2000, the global gap in the numbers of girls compared to boys enrolled in primary education was five percentage points, compared to 16 percentage points in 1975. Since 1970, average life expectancies for women have increased by 15 to 20 years in developing countries. Since the 1970s, women's labor force participation has risen an average of 15 percentage points in East Asian and Latin American countries. Between 1990 and 2002, 81 countries of 111 studied saw increases in the female share of non-agricultural employment. Some countries—Brazil, Chile, India, Jordan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa, and Thailand among them—have revised their labor codes to establish more equal treatment of men and women in the labor force. Since Beijing, there has been some improvement in women's property and inheritance rights in several Latin American and Asian countries.
"Gender equality is now a core element of the Bank's strategy to reduce poverty," said Danny Leipziger, Vice President of the Bank's Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network. "There is a clear understanding that unless women and men have equal opportunities, rights, and voice, the ambitious poverty-reduction goals set out in the Millennium Declaration will not be achieved." The World Bank has addressed gender issues since the 1970s, but the Bank's emphasis in this area increased following the 1995 Beijing Conference. Since 1995, the Bank has provided about US$6.3 billion to support girls' education projects. Over two-thirds of Bank loans in the areas of health, nutrition and population have included gender-related objectives, with particular emphasis on HIV/AIDS and women's reproductive health. The new report, which is the Bank's contribution to the "Beijing + 10" review meeting, describes the World Bank's role as a partner in the international effort to promote gender equality and empower women. The report describes concrete activities that have advanced the goals of the Beijing Platform for Action, outlines global trends in improving girls' and women's lives, and highlights some areas in need of further action. The report also describes World Bank projects that have helped to improve the lives of women and girls, the Bank's analytical work on gender issues, as well as institutional changes that have helped the Bank to increase attention to gender issues in its work. Gender issues are highly relevant to achieving all of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), be it protecting the environment, achieving sustainable development or enabling universal access to health care. The third MDG – to promote gender equality and empower women – addresses gender equality by targeting the elimination of gender disparities in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and in all levels of education no later than 2015. It also targets literacy rates, the share of women in non-agricultural jobs, and the proportion of seats women hold in national parliaments. The MDGs are mutually reinforcing, so success in many of the goals will have positive impacts on gender equality, just as progress toward gender equality will help further other goals. Low investment in girls' education significantly reduces a country's economic output. Data suggests that if countries in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East had closed the schooling gender gap at the same rate that countries in East Asia did between 1960 and 1992, their income per capita would likely have grown an additional 0.5-0.9 percentage points per year. But, despite increased awareness that gender equality is a critical factor in economic growth as well as poverty reduction, gender inequalities still prevail in many countries, as evidenced by disparities in access to secondary education and basic health services, women's lack of independent rights to own land, manage property, or conduct business, and women's under-representation at all government levels. According to Leipziger: "despite the progress made on gender equality, meeting the gender targets – as with all of the MDGs – will require a concerted effort by the international community." The current environment presents both opportunities and challenges for achieving the Beijing goals. The World Bank will continue to support country efforts to empower women and girls by creating and sharing knowledge on the links between gender equality and development. Specifically, World Bank efforts to help countries reach the Beijing Platform for Action goals will emphasize three main areas: supporting gender-relevant policy analysis, dialogue, and operational work; promoting greater gender equality through private sector development; and working more closely with civil society and development partners. To read the report:
Improving Women's Live (1.1 mb pdf)
For more on the World Bank's work on gender, visit:
http://www.worldbank.org/gender  |
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