Despite many international agreements affirming the rights of women and girls, yet this gender is still more likely to be poor and illiterate than men. Women and girls have less access to property ownership, credit, training and employment. Women and girls in the developed world and those in developing countries are less likely than men to be politically active and far more likely to be victims of domestic abuse and other forms of violence.
Gender equality involves the empowerment of women, with a focus on identifying and redressing power imbalances and giving women more autonomy to manage their own lives. When women are empowered, whole families benefit, and these benefits often have a ripple effect on future generations. Gender equality is a human right. Women are entitled to live with dignity and with freedom from want and from fear. Gender equality is also a precondition for advancing development and reducing poverty: empowered women contribute to the health and productivity of whole families and communities, and they improve prospects for the next generation. Ensuring the rights of women and giving them opportunities to reach their full potential is critical not only for attaining gender equality, but also for meeting a wide range of international development goals.
Women’s empowerment is a critical aspect of achieving gender equality. It includes increasing a woman’s sense of self-worth, her decision-making power, her access to opportunities and resources, her power and control over her own life inside and outside the home, and her ability to effect change. It is important to mention that gender issues are not focused on women alone, but on the relationship between men and women in society. The actions and attitudes of men and boys play an essential role in achieving gender equality. Women have fewer opportunities for economic participation than men, less access to basic and higher education, greater health and safety risks, and less political representation, globally.
Education is a key area of focus. Although the world is making progress in achieving gender parity in education, girls still make up a higher percentage of out-of-school children than boys. In Africa girls and young women’s access, retention and completion in schools is still of huge concern. The latest figures from UNESCO (2019) show that 52 million girls are not in school in Africa, while four million will never step into a classroom compared to two million boys. Typically, families with limited means who cannot afford costs such as school fees, uniforms, and supplies for all of their children will prioritize education for their sons. Families may also rely on girls’ labor for household chores, carrying water, and childcare, leaving limited time for schooling. But prioritizing girls’ education provides perhaps the single highest return on investment in the developing world. A girl child that is educated is better informed, more likely to postpone marriage, raise a smaller family, have healthier children, and send her own children to school. She has more opportunities to earn an income and to participate in political processes, and she is less likely to become infected with HIV.
Another important area is Women’s health and safety. HIV/AIDS is becoming an increasingly impactful issue for women. This can be related to women having fewer opportunities for health education, unequal power in sexual partnership, or as a result of gender-based violence. Maternal health is also an issue of specific concern. In many countries, women have limited access to prenatal and infant care, and are more likely to experience complications during pregnancy and childbirth. This is a critical concern in countries where girls marry and have children before they are ready; often well before the age of 18. Quality maternal health care can provide an important entry point for information and services that empower mothers as informed decision-makers concerning their own health and the health of their children.
A final area of focus in attaining gender equality is women’s economic and political empowerment. Though women comprise more than 50% of the world’s population, they only own 1% of the world’s wealth. Globally, women and girls perform long hours of unpaid domestic work. In some places including Nigeria, women still lack rights to own land or to inherit property, obtain access to credit, earn income, or to move up in their workplace, free from job discrimination. At all levels, including at home and in the public arena, women are widely underrepresented as decision-makers. In legislatures around the world, women are outnumbered four to one, yet women’s political participation is crucial for achieving gender equality and genuine democracy.
Still, despite solid evidence demonstrating the centrality of women’s empowerment to realizing human rights, reducing poverty, promoting development and addressing the world’s most urgent challenges, gender equality remains an unfulfilled promise.
However, gender equality will be achieved only when women and men enjoy the same opportunities, rights and obligations in all spheres of life. This means sharing equally in the distribution of power and influence, and having equal opportunities for financial independence, education and realizing their personal ambitions.
• Ndidiamaka C. Ani, Program & Research Manager at HipCity Innovation Centre
