Gender Inequality and the MDGs: What are the Missing Dimensions?
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a Summit in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
On the occasion of the upcoming Summit, it is important to reflect on the progress achieved so far towards the MDGs. But it is equally important to examine what can be done within the next 5 years to help reach these goals, especially when looking at the relationship between gender inequality and the MDGs.
The OECD Development Centre has just published an Issues Brief on “Gender Inequality and the MDGs: What are the Missing Dimensions?“.
Table of Contents
- 1 Key OECD Development Centre facts
- 2 Related videos
- 3 References
- 4 See also
- 5 More resources
Key OECD Development Centre facts
Despite progress on many of the targets, the above research finds that countries that have the highest levels of discrimination against women are also those performing most poorly across the range of MDG targets. In short, discrimination against women appears to matter.
Some key facts looking at three of the MDGs (MDG1, 2 and 5):
- MDG Goal 1 : ERADICATE EXTREME HUNGER AND POVERTY (indicator: prevalence of underweight children under 5)
In countries where women lack any access to credit, the number of malnourished children is 85% above average. Where women lack the right to own land, they have on average 60% more malnourished children.
- MDG Goal 2 : ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION (indicator: primary school completion rate)
In countries where more than half of girls aged 15-19 are married (DRC, Niger, Afghanistan, Congo and Mali), on average less than half of primary school age children are in school.
- MDG Goal 5 : IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH (indicator : maternal mortality ratio)
In the ten countries where women’s physical integrity is least protected (Mali, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea and Guinea), maternal mortality ratios are on average twice as high as elsewhere.
Related videos
MDG1: How does women’s control over resources impact on poverty and hunger?
Access to land
Rural Development Institute, YouTube
Access to credit
Access to property
The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), YouTube
MDG2: How does women’s decision-making power in the family and household influence education?
Education in Ghana
Early marriage vs. education in Mozambique
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdaQ5nVkSPgShashank Bengali “Fighting for Her Education: A Mozambican Girl’s Story”, YouTube
Pathfinder International, YouTube