(Originally posted by the World Bank)
The lives of women around the world have improved dramatically, at a pace and scope difficult to imagine even 25 years ago. Women have made unprecedented gains in rights, education, health, and access to jobs and livelihoods.
Despite the progress, gaps remain in many areas. The World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development argues that closing these gaps is a core development objective in its own right. It is also smart economics. Greater gender equality can enhance productivity, improve development outcomes for the next generation, and make institutions more representative.
The analytical core of the Report constitutes a conceptual framework that examines the factors that have fostered change and the constraints that have slowed progress. The analysis focuses on the roles of economic growth, households, markets, and institutions in determining gender differences in education and health, agency, and access to economic opportunities.
The analysis leads to the identification of four priority areas for domestic policy action:
• Reducing excess female mortality and closing education gaps where they remain
• Improving access to economic opportunities for women
• Increasing women's voice and agency in the household and in society
• Limiting the reproduction of gender inequality across generations
While domestic policy action is crucial, the Report calls on the international community to complement efforts in the four priority areas and also support evidence-based public action through better data, impact evaluation and learning.
The report found that the worst disparity between the sexes is the rate at which girls and women die in relation to boys and men in low- and middle-income countries. "Globally, excess female mortality after birth and 'missing' girls at birth account every year for an estimated 3.9 million women below the age of 60," it says. Of this number, around two-fifths of girls are never born, because the preference for sons remains stubbornly ingrained in some societies. The report suggests that sex selection has been exacerbated by rapid income growth: "Higher incomes have increased access to ultrasound technologies that assist in sex selection at birth."
Se more information here.
