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Investing in Women and Girls: UN

By IRNA

Tehran : Achieving gender equality and empowering women is a goal in itself and it is also a condition for building healthier, better educated, more peaceful and more prosperous societies, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement to mark the International Women’s Day.

“When women are fully empowered and engaged, all of society benefits. Only in this way can we successfully take on the enormous challenges confronting our world – from conflict resolution and peace building to fighting AIDS and reaching all the other Millennium Development Goals.”
UN Information Center in Tehran said in a press release titled ‘Investing in Women and Girls’ that gender equality has been recognized by Member States as an essential factor for the achievement of the United Nations priorities of peace and security, human rights and development, including the Millennium Development Goals.

Over the last few decades, agreements at major UN conferences and meetings – including the Beijing Platform for Action, Monterrey Consensus and the 2005 World Summit Outcome – have urged international and regional organizations to provide sufficient resources for programmes that support women’s empowerment as a priority for economic development. To focus attention on the achievements that have been made and the gaps that remain in financing women’s empowerment, the theme for International Women’s Day 2008 is Investing in Women and Girls.

WHERE WE ARE
Of the 867 million adults who cannot read today, 64% are women, according to World Bank estimates. Of the approximately 113 million children aged 6-11 years who do not attend school, the majority are girls. Research shows 60% of youth not attending school are girls.

On average, $8.5 billion of the $26 billion reported bilateral aid allocated by sectors focused on gender equality in 2005-2006, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC). Most of that funding was to the social sectors, primarily health and education, while limited funds were allocated to promoting gender equality in areas such as agriculture, infrastructure or finance.

Investing in women and girls has a multiplier effect on productivity, efficiency and sustained economic growth.

Educated women have more economic opportunities and engage more fully in public life.

Women who are educated tend to have fewer and healthier children, and those children are more likely to attend school. Education also increases the ability of women and girls to protect themselves against HIV.

Women make long-ranging contributions to poverty eradication and development. When women get opportunities for education, access to resources and a place at the political table, not only is the quality of their lives improved, but economies are strengthened.

According to World Bank estimates, an increase of one percentage point in the share of women with secondary education is associated with a 0.3 percentage point increase in per capita income.

Educated, healthy women are more able to undertake productive activities and earn higher incomes. Investments in women, the primary caretakers of the future generation, provide returns for decades.

Better educated women are able to benefit from new technologies and the opportunities presented by economic change. Increasing women’s access to land, credit and other resources increases their well-being, and that of their families and communities, and reduces the risks of poverty.