Gender Equality

International conferences and treaties have recognized that women must be helped to rise from poverty, exploitation, social inferiority and dependence, in the name of justice and for the sake of securing the human rights of half the human race. We now know that women's empowerment is also critical to succeeding in the development tasks that face many nations. Countries need the contributions of their women as much as they need those of their men.

Social, economic, and political rights are inseparable in practice.

The social empowerment of women clearly con tributes to, and depends on, good reproductive health. That means women must be able to travel outside the home, must be able to own property and have cash savings, and must share in the household decision-making. All this benefits their families as well: where women have control over their own purchases, they invest more of their discretionary income in their children, their household, and their own health needs.

Exercise of their reproductive rights strengthens women's families as well, both in lessening time lost due to illness and the number of untimely deaths, and because planned children are wanted children, and having fewer children means more of the family's resources are available for each.

Family planning has been shown to lower the like lihood of broken marriages. A woman's control over her fertility is also frequently associated with having more choices in other areas of her life. A woman's knowledge of government and par ticipation in the political arena, including infor mal associations, are important for the exercise of her rights as well.

Role of men: Efforts to advance women's rights began with the recognition of the need to redress the systematic exclusion of women from oppor tunities open to men, and to end gender-based discrimination in the distribution of resources and rewards. But the roles assigned to men can be burdensome to men, too.

Men's commitment to their children is key to the quality of the family's life and the prospects of the next generation, yet they have not taken up their share in family life, even when their wives share in work outside the home.

To promote male involvement in the family, concerned leaders, governments, and NGOs must begin by confronting cultural barriers. The media can help by painting a positive picture of relationships between fathers and children.

Men's support for women during pregnancy and involvement in childbirth have not been promoted effectively. Yet programmes in Jamaica, Cameroon, and other countries showed that men do respond very well to efforts to involve them in the period after childbirth.

However, men are frequently unaware of and insensitive to women's reproductive and sexual health needs. Male socialization has perpetuated myths about female and male sexuality, expecta tions about sexuality and masculinity, and acceptance of domestic violence. A large minor ity of men still consider sexual and reproductive health matters to be "women's concerns" beneath their notice.

Men's support, though, is going to be crucial for women's empowerment. Women cannot do it alone. Men must come to recognize that women's empowerment is not a threat but rather a way to improve their families and societies.

Promoting Education

Too little attention has been paid to the education of girls in much of the world. Globally, nearly 600 million women are illiterate today, compared with about 320 million men. In some parts of the world, as many as three out of four women are illiterate.

The education of girls is a key factor in improv ing family health, reducing infant mortality, and changing reproductive behaviour. In almost every setting, regardless of region, culture, or level of development, well-educated women have a greater say in their lives, including their repro ductive lives, and bear fewer children than do uneducated women.

But threshold levels must be reached before the good effects of education can be seen: for women, more than five or six years of schooling. The International Conference on Population and Development's Programme of Action called for universal access to primary education before 2015, and urged countries to take steps to keep girls and adolescents in school.

Men, as decision-makers and authorities, need to make sure that girls are able to go to school, stay in school, and are taught the skills they need to succeed in the workplace and the world at large on equal terms. Men must also teach boys new ways to think about their roles and about women in this rapidly changing world.

Attacking Poverty

There is a circular relationship between poverty and reproductive health: attacking poverty improves reproductive health, and realizing sex ual and reproductive rights will help end poverty. The poor endure many disadvantages in their quest for healthy lives: poor children suffer from malnutrition; poor mothers tend to have more children; poor couples are often unaware of contraception or unable to afford it; more chil dren in the family means less for each of them--poor families are less able to afford to support their children's education; and daugh ters are often kept at home to help rear their brothers and sisters.

Poor people now are more aware than their parents' generation were that education is one important key to a better life. New social norms lend community support to family planning and the choice of having a small family.

Research around the world shows that pro grammes attacking poverty have the greatest effect when they give poor people, especially poor women, greater control over all aspects of their lives. In Bangladesh, the Grameen Bank has provided small loans to women's groups for business activities. They found that all women in the communities they served, even non-participants, had more power of decision than women in other communities, and were likelier to use contraception as a consequence.

In societies that have socially isolated their women, self-employment programmes have had quite an impact simply by involving women in informal social interaction with other women. News of family planning methods spreads, and social norms about fertility and contraception change.

Since 1982, UNFPA has supported more than 20 projects combining reproductive health services and information with "micro-credit" activities. Improving livelihoods enhances women's self-esteem, their confidence, their participation in political and family life, their decision-making power, and their position in the family. They benefit, their families benefit, and their communities prosper.

top