Biblioteca Digital

Incluye Bibliografía; Since the 1990s, despite some setbacks, Latin American and Caribbean countries, have advanced in the process of setting up national mechanisms for the advancement of women and have managed to carve out a formal space in the state apparatus as part of the democratization process that has transpired in the region in the past few years. In the more developed countries in the region truly significant advances have been accomplished in recent years. Crucial in this re-structuring of society have been the last four Regional Conferences on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean1 called upon by ECLAC between 1997 and 2007 that have provided a privileged space for the drafting of a regional agenda and for the generation of new knowledge, perspectives and strategies to meet the challenges of emerging issues. National mechanisms have shown increased leadership in achieving the gender agenda. However, political will has been uneven and adequate resources generally lacking, which has limited its capacity development and the mechanisms’ efforts to impact a critical mass of support. National mechanisms have emphasized the adoption of law reforms although there are evident efforts towards concrete practices and implementation strategies...

The authors are grateful to a number of people who helped at various states in the drafting of this paper. In particular, Nicholas Menzies (Justice Reform Specialist, LEGJR) for his continuous support and extensive comments on earlier drafts; Milena Stefanova (Project Officer, LEGJR), Daniel Evans (Consultant, LEGJR) and Elizabeth Morgan (Development Practitioner, PNG-Australia Law and Justice Partnership, Village Courts & Land Mediation Secretariat, PNG Department of Justice & Attorney General) for their invaluable inputs and insights; Barry Walsh (Senior Justice Specialist, LEGJR), Harold Epineuse (Counsel, LEGJR), Richard Nash (Counsel, LEGJR) and Melissa Upreti (Center for Reproductive Rights) for their contributions and comments; Virginia Seitz (Senior Director, Social and Gender Assessment, Millennium Challenge Corporation) and Limpho Masekese Maema (Gender Coordinator, Gender Equality in Economic Rights Programme, Millenium Challenge Account- Lesotho) for their contribution to the drafting of the case study on Lesotho.

During the 1998 Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II), a set of ambitious poverty reduction and human development goals were established for the Africa region, drawing on and reaffirming commitments made three years earlier at the First TICAD conference and at the United Nation (UN) Social Summit in Copenhagen. The Second TICAD Agenda for Action dealt with three broad areas: social development; economic development; and basic foundations for development (good governance, conflict prevention and post-conflict development). Nine time-bound social and economic development goals form a key part of the agenda: 1) Universal Primary Education (UPE) in Africa by 2015, with 80 percent completion by 2005; 2) halve the 1990 illiteracy rate by 2005, with an emphasis on improving female literacy rates; 3) gender equality in primary and secondary enrollments by 2005; 4) halve the 1990 maternal mortality rate by 2005, and by a further half by 2015; 5) reduce infant and child mortality rates to one-third of their 1990 levels by 2015; 6) universal access to reproductive health services by 2015; 7) halve the number of malnourished people by 2015; 8) safe water and sanitation for 80 percent of the population by 2005; and 9) reduce the number of women living in poverty by two-thirds by 2015.

Many countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are undergoing a profound transformation. From Bahrain to Yemen, from Tunisia to Egypt, popular movements are calling for political change and a more inclusive development path that will provide ordinary citizens with greater voice, social and economic freedom, and government accountability. Young men and women have been visibly at the forefront of these calls for change, and continue to participate actively. This quick note is based on the overview of the regional report with the same title which complements the 2012 World Development Report (WDR) on gender equality and development. The WDR highlighted the influence and interconnectedness of markets, formal and informal institutions and households in determining gender outcomes. Following the WDR, the report, which will go through a series of consultations in the countries in the region, draws on economic analysis of quantitative data from countries in the region, qualitative research and international evidence. The final report will identify policy directions to better exploit the benefits of a more inclusive development path.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has made impressive strides in reducing gender gaps in human development. The ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education is 0.96, women in the region are more likely than men to attend university, maternal mortality is around 200 deaths per 100,000 live births (compared to a world average of 400 deaths), and fertility rates have decreased in the past decade. Although gender gaps in school completion rates still exist in some MENA countries, most countries are well on their way to achieving gender parity in key human development indicators.

The pregnancy project sought to expose the existence, and challenge the validity, of stereotypes about Hispanic women. The charade explored the underlying motivations of the many who responded with a wide range of reactions. The specific objectives of this regional study are: to establish a thorough description of the magnitude of the issue and its potential implications for social advancement; to advance the understanding of the risk factors, motivations and impacts at the household level-as a determinant of poverty and a cause of intra-and intergenerational poverty traps; to illuminate the coping mechanisms and their individual and social implications; to highlight the gender-related issues that have historically provoked asymmetric costs to boys and girls; and to provide elements that support specific policies on this matter. In the last decade, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have been moving in the right direction and the region has experienced important gains in gender equality of endowments (assets) and economic opportunities. In most LAC countries...

In Thailand and worldwide, despite increases in educational enrollment, rigid gender norms dictating appropriate roles and behaviors contribute to the persistence of the gender inequalities. Since education systems are embedded in the broader social context, they reflect the inequalities that exist in society. The structure and content of schooling, textbooks, curricular choices, sex distribution of teachers and administrators, teacher attitudes and behaviors, classroom and discipline practices, and the presence of violence, reflect discriminatory and harmful social norms about the appropriate roles and opportunities for boys and girls (Connell, 1996, 2000, 2010). At the same time, schools have enormous potential to effect social change, transform gender relations, expanding the range of possibilities for both boys and girls (UNGEI, 2012a). This report provides a brief review of the literature and of interventions to promote gender equity through education in several specific areas: textbooks and curriculum; teacher distribution...

My work presents a place-specific analysis of how gender paradigms interact across and within spatial scales: the global, the regional, the national and the personal. It briefly outlines the concepts and measures defining the international gender paradigm, and explores the filtration of this paradigm into assessments and understandings of gender and gender dynamics by and within Barbados. It does this by analyzing the contents of reports of the Barbados government to international bodies assessing the country’s performance in the area of gender equality, and by analyzing gender-comparative content of local print news media over the decade of the 1990s, and the first decade of the 2000s. It contextualizes the discussion within the realm of social and economic development. The work shows how the almost singular focus on “women” in the international gender paradigm may depreciate valid gender concerns of men and thus hinder the overall goal of achieving gender equality, that is, achieving just, inclusive societies.

My work presents a place-specific analysis of how gender paradigms interact across and within spatial scales: the global, the regional, the national and the personal. It briefly outlines the concepts and measures defining the international gender paradigm, and explores the filtration of this paradigm into assessments and understandings of gender and gender dynamics by and within Barbados. It does this by analyzing the contents of reports of the Barbados government to international bodies assessing the country’s performance in the area of gender equality, and by analyzing gender-comparative content of local print news media over the decade of the 1990s, and the first decade of the 2000s. It contextualizes the discussion within the realm of social and economic development. The work shows how the almost singular focus on “women” in the international gender paradigm may depreciate valid gender concerns of men and thus hinder the overall goal of achieving gender equality, that is, achieving just, inclusive societies.^

The role of government policies in achieving gender equality in leadership is increasingly being questioned. Scholars argue public policies often fail to overcome such adversities because of lack of understanding of the ‘sexual politics’ within organizations where gender is ‘relational, contested and always political’. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to determine the effectiveness of Australian policies with regard to promoting more women into key managerial/executive personnel positions. The paper involves a cross-country review of literatures regarding the interrelationship between public policy interface and the gender order of a society. It has also utilised unrefined primary data gleaned from interviews with Australian working women aged between 25 and 45. The findings suggest gender equality legislation and work/life balance policies are not proving effective in developing more gender equal dual earner/carer household model. Moreover, equal opportunity is yet to be universal. The consequences, thus, are a thicker glass-ceiling, wider gender pay gap and slipping or stagnant growth of female participation in leadership roles. The paper argues that persistent stereotypical gender division of labour as well as societal attitude towards ‘legitimate differences’ between men and women; and a lack of long term comprehensive policy initiative are primarily to blame. Therefore...

The paper addresses the dilemmas, contradictions and paradoxes in the Danish approach to gender quotas and gender equality and discusses the intersections of citizenship, democracy and gender justice. Gender research understands gender quota as a means to achieve equal rights, gender equality and gender parity. Gender theory has conceptualized gender parity as one step towards achieving gender justice in all arenas of social, political and economic life. The Danish cases illustrate that context matters and question gender quota as a universal strategy to achieve gender equality. The empirical focus of the paper is placed on three arenas: 1) gender quota in political governance; 2) gender quota in parental leave policies; and 3) gender quota in economic governance. The paper is primarily concerned with analyses of Danish discourses and policies in relation to the three policy areas and only to a limited extent addresses the impact of these policies and their implications for lived practice. One issue concerns the paradox of the relatively high female representation in politics without the adoption of gender quotas. A second issue concerns the gap between gender equality policies. Denmark lacks behind the other Scandinavian countries’ discourses and policies about gender quota but in practice the picture is much more complex. A third issue concerns the European perspective. In relation to women’s labour market participation and gender parity in politics Denmark is ahead of other European countries but lacks behind in relation to equal representation on corporate boards.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the recently adopted law on gender electoral quotas marks a change in the approach to gender issues and gender equality in Poland. It also aims to describe the trajectory of women’s movement in a post-Communist country and to identify causes related to the role of women in the Solidarity movement that resulted in low visibility of women in government and decision-making positions. The paper departs from the assumption that Poland is not moving away from a narrowly conceived equal rights/opportunities model, because such model has not yet been fully implemented. In the context of the present ‘war on gender’, women’s full political, economic, social, and more specifically, private citizenship is a long-term project. As of now, women remain instrumental for achieving political parties’ further aims, and any gestures that seem to advance women’s position in the public sphere are usually merely symbolic. Yet, the emergence of a strong women’s movement helps to frame the public discourse in gendered terms and gradually include its propositions in the mainstream policy.

Uganda is a leader in Sub-Saharan Africa, in recognizing linkages between economic growth and gender issues. These linkages are critical for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The study assesses the legal and administrative barriers faced by women, as identified by the Bank's Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) and the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Gender-Entrepreneurship-Markets Unit. The structure of the report mirrors that of the FIAS 2003 Administrative Barriers to Investment Report, and is designed to highlight the gender dimensions of that research to encourage further replication. The findings of this report indicate the considerable potential for economic growth that exists, if Uganda is to unleash the power of women, and support their full economic participation in the private sector. This assessment considers the relationship between gender and economic growth in Uganda in the context of promoting women's participation in business and entrepreneurship. Men and women both play substantial...

In recent decades, women across the globe have made positive strides toward gender equality. Literacy rates for young women and girls are higher than ever before, while gender gaps in primary education have closed in almost all countries. In the last three decades, over half a billion women have joined the world's labor force (World Bank 2011c). Progress toward gender equality in East Asia and the Pacific has been similarly noteworthy. Most countries in the region have either reached or surpassed gender parity in education enrollments. Health outcomes for both women and men have improved significantly. Female labor force participation rates in the region are relatively high. Yet, despite considerable progress in this economically dynamic region, gender disparities persist in a number of important areas, particularly in access to economic opportunity and in voice and influence in society. For policy makers in East Asian and Pacific countries, closing these gender gaps represents an important challenge to achieving more inclusive and effective development. The East Asia and Pacific Region's significant economic growth, structural transformation, and poverty reduction in the last few decades have been associated with reduced gender inequalities in several dimensions. But growth and development have not been enough to attain gender equality in all its dimensions. This report clarifies empirically the relationship between gender and development and outlines an agenda for public action to promote gender equality in East Asian and Pacific countries.

Along with remarkable achievements in reducing poverty during the past decade, Vietnam's social and economic development policies have placed much emphasis on promoting gender equality. From a perspective of gender equality, women in Vietnam are considered in a relatively favorable position compared with women in other developing countries or other developed Asian countries, with a high rate of women's labor force participation and a high degree of women's representation in political positions including the national assembly. With the new law on gender equality passed in November 2006, more policy efforts are called for in achieving gender equality in both public and private spheres of people's lives. In this context, it is all the more important to have up-to-date information on various indicators of gender equality in order to accurately assess the current situation of gender disparities in Vietnam. This task is essential for formulating policies that address specific problem areas of gender disparities...

This thematic study is about gender equity in junior and senior secondary education in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It consists of case studies of Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda, as well as, a review of studies undertaken over the past ten years on education in Africa with particular attention to girls' and secondary education. Gender equity at the primary level has been the focus of considerable attention within the education for all frameworks of action, but much less so at the secondary level. Evidence of gender inequity and inequality in terms of access, retention and performance in secondary education in SSA raises many questions. While transition rates from primary to secondary are higher for girls than boys, and the repetition rates are lower, girls still significantly trail behind boys in terms of secondary gross enrollment rate (GER). The purpose of this study is to document and analyze the extent and nature of gender disadvantage in junior and senior secondary education, to analyze the causes of this disadvantage and to identify strategies that may be effective in reducing or eliminating it. This thematic study will make a timely and useful contribution to the debate on Secondary Education and Training in Africa (SEIA) issues.

Gender equality is not just a women's issue, it is a development issue. Women's economic empowerment is essential for economic development, growth, and poverty reduction not only because of the income it generates, but also because it helps to break the vicious cycle of poverty. Educating girls and women is critical to economic development. Research conducted in a variety of countries and regions has established that educating girls is one of the most cost-effective ways of spurring development. Female education creates powerful poverty-reducing synergies and yields enormous intergenerational gains. It is positively correlated with increased economic productivity, more robust labor markets, higher earnings, and improved societal health and well-being. This book is based on the background papers developed for the symposium. Although the papers have been edited, their key messages remain intact, and the theme of the symposium respected. The overview chapter is a thematic paper prepared by the World Bank that brings out the main messages of the symposium. The subsequent chapters reflect the current state of education from a gender perspective and highlight the importance of and challenges to female education as well as the interdependence of education and development objectives. The final chapter presents five strategic directions for advancing gender equity in education.

Three out of every four poor people in developing countries live in rural areas, and most of them depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihoods. In many parts of the world, women are the main farmers or producers, but their roles remain largely unrecognized. The 2008 World development report: agriculture for development highlights the vital role of agriculture in sustainable development and its importance in achieving the millennium development goal of halving by 2015 the share of people suffering from extreme poverty and hunger. Climate change and rising food prices are reminders of the need to focus on food security and agriculture for development; and the material presented in the gender in agriculture sourcebook suggests that accounting for the different roles of women and men and gender equality in access to resources and opportunities is a necessary condition for doing so. This sourcebook is a particularly timely resource. It combines descriptive accounts of national and international experience in investing in agriculture with practical operational guidance on to how to design agriculture for development strategies that capitalize effectively on the unique properties of agricultural growth and rural development involving women and men as a high-impact source of poverty reduction. It looks at gender equality and women's empowerment...

This study investigates the relationship between financial sector development and progress in reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It assesses the contribution of countries' financial sector development to achieving the MDGs. The focus is on the relationships between financial development and economic welfare and growth, and the following four MDG-themes: Poverty, Education, Health, and Gender Equality. In doing so, the book reviews the theoretical channels, surveys existing empirical evidence - both cross-country and case study evidence, and provides new evidence. Financial Sector Development and the Millennium Development Goals finds that financial development is an important driver for economic welfare in that it reduces the prevalence of income poverty and undernourishment. In addition, new evidence is provided of a positive association between financial development and health, education, and gender equality.

Includes bibliography; Incluye CD-ROM con anexo estadístico; This report is the outcome of a joint effort by the specialized agencies of the United Nations system in Latin America and the Caribbean that began in 2005 with the regional report entitled "The Millennium Development Goals: A Latin American and Caribbean Perspective (United Nations, 2005). All the agencies participated in its preparation, in particular UNIFEM, PAHO, UNFPA and ECLAC, the lastmentioned as coordinating agency. On the basis of the most recent data available at the time of preparation, the report focuses attention on the progress made in meeting Goal 3, (Promote gender equality and empower women), emphasizing its link with target 1 of Goal 1 (Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day). In view of the dual aspect of Women's empowerment —as an end in itself and as a necessary pre-condition for the fulfilment of the other Goals— the report examines the changes in the official indicators, together with a set of complementary and additional indicators for the region that serve to illustrate more fully the genderbased inequalities and forms of discrimination prevailing in various spheres. The report identifies and discusses four critical challenges that must be faced in order to progress towards full compliance with Goal 3: achieving gender parity in access to decision-making...