The Millennium Development Goals Goal Three: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women UNITAR Public Sessions 8 March 2011
Officially established at the 2000 Millennium Summit However are based on trends prior to 1990 A 25-year time-span To encourage social and economic development in the world's poorest countries Accepted and endorsed by 189 countries Simple, emotive, measurable Non-binding Provide a greater role for the public and non-state sectors Provide legitimacy for non-state actors to intervene in global policy-making from a human rights standpoint
Provide for mutual accountability A global social compact Developing countries are held accountable for outcomes achievement of targets rich countries thereby motivated to provide more support Rich countries are held accountable for providing greater support scaling up ODA, providing more debt relief and allowing greater access to their markets developing countries therefore motivated to adopt MDG development strategies
Challenge the notion of development equaling economic growth Provide a conceptual lens to evaluate government policies Are inter-dependent: better health enables children to learn and adults to earn gender equality is essential to the achievement of better health reducing poverty, hunger and environmental degradation positively influences, but also depends on, better health
TARGET 3A: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, by 2005, and in all levels by 2015 3.1 Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education 3.2 Share of women in wage employment in the nonagricultural sector 3.3 Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament
Women have lower economic status (Source :World Development Indicators, 1997, Womankind Worldwide) work two-thirds of the world's working hours and produce half of the world's food yet earn only 10% of the world's income and own less than 1% of the world's property 70% of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty are women (Source: World Revolution) Women do about 66% of the world's work in return for less than 5% of its income. (Source: Women's International Network) In the least developed countries nearly twice as many women over age 15 are illiterate compared to men. (Source: UNFPA) Two-thirds of children denied primary education are girls, and 75% of the world s 876 million illiterate adults are women. (Source: AskWoman)
Framework built to expose differences in the distribution of achievements between women and men Measure inequalities in three dimensions and five indicators
Disadvantages facing women are major source of inequality in Reproductive Health Adolescent fertility Maternal mortality Empowerment Educational attainment Parliamentary representation Labour market Labour force participation
Ratios of girls school enrollment ratios still lag behind in relation to boys in primary education Source: United Nations MDG Report 2005
Recent data indicate greatest progress in regions with widest gaps Northern Africa Increase in ratio of girls to 100 boys from 82 to 93 Southern Asia Increase in ratio of girls to 100 boys from 76 to 85 Gender gap still a serious concern in Southern Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Western Asia
Ratios of girls school enrollment ratios still lag behind in relation to boys in secondary education Source: United Nations MDG Report 2005
Gender disparities tend to increase at higher levels of education Gender gap remains a serious concern in Sub-Saharan Africa Southern Asia Western Asia As low as 46 in majority of Sub-Saharan Africa If this rate continues, target in 2015 will be missed Overall progress in gender parity Achieved by about half of all countries in primary education Only 20% in secondary education Only 8% in higher education
Improving but with Significant Regional Differences Parity in primary schooling has already been reached in Latin America and the Caribbean East Asia and the Pacific CEE/CIS Parity in secondary and higher education more challenging, but achievable Difficulty in tertiary education 0.6 ratio in sub-saharan Africa 0.7 ratio in South Asia Differences persist for higher levels Sub-Saharan Africa South Asia Female enrolment higher in Latin America and the Caribbean Developed regions
Gender inequality in the labour market is manifested by: Occupational segregation Gender-based wage gaps Disproportionate representation in informal employment unpaid work higher unemployment rates More women than men work in low-status job Women typically earn less than men even for similar kinds of work Source: United Nations MDG Report 2005
Access to paid employment Lower than men in most developing countries Less likely than men to hold paid and regular jobs Over 60% of working in family enterprises without pay Lower pay and worse working conditions More women are unemployed Latin America and Carribean Southern and Western Asia Northern Africa Even where women have made significant gains in paid employment, labour markets remain strongly segregated to the disadvantages of women
Non-agricultural employment are informal (women and men, respectively) Sub-Saharan Africa 84 % vs. 63% Latin America 58% vs. 48% Women are less likely to secure higher paying jobs Discriminatory stereotyping Less availability due to family responsibilities Human rights overlooked or denied ILO Convention No. 156 ratification Conventions on maternity protection Rights denied by law
Slow Increase in Women's Wage Employment Outside of Agriculture Increased by 3% since 1990 to a total of 39% in 2005 Has increased across all regions Account for almost 40% of total employment Around 30% Sub-Saharan Africa Less than 20% South Asia Middle East North Africa
Number of women in national parliaments increase But no country in the world has yet reached gender parity due to; Type of electoral system in place in a country Role and discipline of political parties Women's social and economic status Socio-cultural traditions and beliefs about a woman's place in the family and society Women's double burden of work and family responsibilities Despite increase in 1990s, only 16% of seat held by women Source: United Nations MDG Report 2010
Relative increases in the proportion of women in parliament Largest in Northern Africa Percentage tripled since 1990 Latin America and the Caribbean Sub-Saharan Africa Significant progress in Developed regions Southern Asia South Eastern Asia Sustained and high level Above 30 % in Nordic region
Importance of including women recognized in post-conflict countries in peace-building and reconstruction instituted measures to ensure women's participation post-conflict and post-crisis countries ranked among the highest Provisions in national constitutions Rwanda and Burundi now reserve seats for women In 2003, greatest proportion of women elected to the Rwandan parliament The Rwandan parliament has come closest to reaching an equal number Women in the legislature between 22% to 35% Eritrea, Mozambique, South Africa
Regional average below 20% Except for developed countries A critical mass of 30% will not be achieved by 2015 As of June 2008, one out of 5 ratio Reaching the parity zone between 40% to 60% in developing countries to take another 40 years Quota-mechanisms, affirmative action measures instrumental Striking contrast between countries with and without quotas As significant as 16%, as is in South Asia Various quotas exist in 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean Similar efforts in the Arab region
Japan and the Millennium Development Goals: Goal Three: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women UNITAR Public Sessions 8 March 2011
Japan supports international commitments on gender equality "World Plan of Action (1975) "Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women" (1979) "Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action" (1995) The United Nations' "Millennium Declaration" (2000) Japan local efforts the "Initiative on Women In Development (WID) focus on three priority areas Education Health economic and social participation of women UNDP/Japan Women in Development Fund (JWIDF) (1995) the "Basic Law for a Gender-equal Society enacted (1999) Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA)
UNDP/Japan Women in Development Fund (JWIDF) a joint-initiative between the Government of Japan and UNDP innovative projects that broaden and sustain women's opportunities In response to the MDGs funds innovative initiatives that generate greater policy impact builds on strategic partnership and policy dialogues that advocate for gender responsive policies and programmes Projects address gender dimensions in Trade, macroeconomic frameworks HIV/AIDS ICT Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA)
Japan s Initiatives in Gender Mainstreaming Integrating gender equality perspective in ODA policies Country Assistance Programs Sector/issue specific policies Policy dialogues Tailoring assistance to country situations Strengthening gender analysis and promoting women s participation Integration of gender perspective into exante evaluation Promote women's as well as men's participation in decision making ODA policies and projects Conduct monitoring, evaluation and effective feed back Toyoda Asako First Female Vice-Mayor, Hiroshima City Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA)
Japan s Initiatives in Gender Mainstreaming (cont d.) Assistance for policies and institutions Assist self-help efforts towards empowerment of women and gender equality in areas of formulation of national policy on advancement of women; institutional strengthening of national machinery; establishing legal and institutional framework from a gender perspective; upgrading gender statistics; gender awareness raising of government officials through gender training. Strengthening cooperation with the international community and NGOs Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) Cooperation with other development partners Cooperation among educational and research institutions in Japan and in developing countries to promote Japan's know-how promote a sense of ownership and partnership among developing countries.
Japan s Initiatives in Gender Mainstreaming (cont d.) Organisational and institutional capacity building Raise awareness regarding gender related issues Strengthen institutional capacity Gender training to staff in ODA related ministries Designate gender focal point at ODA Monitor the progress and extent of gender mainstreaming Expand and update statistics on gender projects Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA)
The Millennium Development Goals Goal Three: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women UNITAR Public Sessions 8 March 2011