The World Development Report: Gender Equality and Development)

The review of the Agreed Conclusion on financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women will evaluate the impact these conclusions have had on the empowerment of women and girls. This paper will look at how girls have benefited from the promises made in the Agreed Conclusion.

Citations from the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), A World Fit for Children and the Beijing Declaration that undergird efforts made for children are noted below:

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

Article 28:  States Parties recognize the right of the child to education and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular: a) Make primary education compulsory and available free for all; b0 Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including general and vocational educations, make them available and accessible to every child and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of need.

Article 29: States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to: A) the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential;

A World Fit for Children

Girls were mentioned 15 times in the Agreed Conclusions.  Even though girls were always mentioned in the context of ‘women and girls’, that in itself indicates a growing awareness of girls and their rights and the importance of providing for their specific needs.

Both the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child were affirmed and several promises were made to rural women and girls.

Several promises were made to rural women and girls. They were promised financing in several areas: access to and improvement of maternal health care, education at all levels and resources to learn and develop skills needed to become independent and provide for their families. Concerned that the rate of HIV/AIDS is growing among women and girls, increased access to prevention programmes, treatment and care was also promised.

The important role that women and girls have in society and the responsibilities they have were acknowledged. Despite the fact that women and girls are often victims of violence and discrimination, they help economies grow, provide for their families, and help eradicate poverty in their communities. It is imperative that they be free from oppression, harassment and intimidate ion.

Recognizing that women and girls play an important role in society, it was agreed that many policies needed to be improved in order to assure gender equality in all aspects of social and economic life.

The World Development Report: Gender Equality and Development (WDR) refers only occasionally to girls. However, it includes some critical implications for girls that merit consideration.

The WDR speaks of ‘gender equality’ as a core development objective in its own right and a path to improve development.  It reports that women make up 43% of the world’s agricultural labour force and 40% of the entire labour force in the world but, at the same time, over half of university students are also women.

Today more countries than ever before have laws which guarantee women and men equal rights in many areas such as property ownership, inheritance and marriage.  136 countries explicitly guarantee equality and nondiscrimination in their laws.

Girls’ education has progressed at all levels. Two-thirds of all countries have reached gender parity in primary education enrollment.  World-wide, m more women than men are now enrolled at the university level.  More than 30 countries have used conditional cash transfers as an incentive to educate girls. Girls who have more education are more likely to work, marry later, have fewer children and exercise gender equality in the home.

Each of these facts has encouraging implications for young and adolescent girls. However limited the progress may be, it is encouraging and provides hope for young girls who see their mothers experiencing equality in some areas. They are more likely to become aware of their rights and work to achieve their own development.

At the same time, chronic poverty remains the single biggest obstacle to meeting the needs of children and promoting and protecting their rights.  Urgent action both at national and international level is needed to eliminate poverty.

While it is true that gender parity has been achieved in elementary education in most areas of the world, inequality still exists in some disadvantaged populations.

Women farmers tend to have smaller plots of land and less access to credit and other resources. They are still required to spend much of their time in household chores.

Although great gains have been made since the Agreed Conclusions, the gender gap is still prevalent. Continued efforts and increased funding are urgently needed to sustain the advances made and to move forward to decrease the gap that continues to exits. The Agreed Conclusions urge member states of the United Nations to commit financial resources to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. This will prove their commitment to the advancement of equality for women and girls.

January, 2012

Related articles

• Recommendations for CSW 56 (girlsrights.org)