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Gender equality in Europe has improved a lot with more focus on giving everyone equal chances rights and the ability to take part in different areas of life The European Union is trying to stop gender based violence close the pay gap and get more women into leadership roles But there are still problems like people sticking to gender stereotypes not enough women in some jobs, and women doing most of the unpaid care work

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European Commission - European Commission

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Closing the gender pay gap, advancing gender balance in politics and business, ending gender-based violence, international gender equality.

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Gender equality in Asia is a complicated issue Theres been progress in education but there are still big challenges in things like women in the workforce, leadership roles, and unpaid care work Plus the situation really varies from country to country

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Gender discrimination costs lives. Close to 100 million women in Asia are estimated to be 'missing' because of discriminatory treatment in access to health and nutrition, pure neglect, or pre-birth sex selection. Here are 12 things to know about gender equality in Asia and the Pacific.

Series

Subjects

Agriculture and natural resources

Gender Equality

Health

Maternal and child health

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Gender Equality and Discrimination in Asia and the Pacific: 12 Things to Know

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Gender discrimination costs lives. Close to 100 million women in Asia are estimated to be 'missing' because of discriminatory treatment in access to health and nutrition, pure neglect, or pre-birth sex selection. Here are 12 things to know about gender equality in Asia and the Pacific.

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In Africa, women are making progress towards equality in social areas like education and healthcare, with a 98.3% score on the Africa Gender Index 2023 Girls now graduate more than boys at all levels of education Womens political representation has also risen to 24.4% up from 22.9% with countries like Rwanda, Namibia, South Africa, and Senegal being leaders in female parliamentary representation

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Africa Gender Index Analytical Report reveals progress, but gender equality remains only half achieved | United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

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Addis Ababa, 6 November 2024 - Women in Africa are closer to reaching equality with men today than they were four years ago – but the continent is only halfway toward achieving gender parity.That’s according to the Africa Gender Index 2023 Analytical Report released by the African Development Bank Group and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on

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Gender equality in South and Central America is a bit of a mix Women have done well in politics and education but they still have problems when it comes to money and jobs Many women struggle in the job market and face higher poverty and violence rates Some big issues are old fashioned views about men and women unfair care work, money differences and a lot of violence against women There have been some laws to help but these deep problems still make it hard to have full gender equality so more policies and community help are needed to improve womens rights and lives

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There is growing pessimism about the global rate of progress towards gender equality. Recent estimates suggest that if progress continues at the rate observed since 2006, it will take 131 years to reach full parity based on a multidimensional index of gender equality (World Economic Forum 2023). Research by Badel et al. (2024) using Markov chains to study the distribution of long-run gender gaps in labour force participation warns that substantial gaps will persist across many countries if they rely primarily on economic development to close these gaps.

In line with these calls for a renewed focus on the challenge of gender inequality, in a recent publication (Berniell et al. 2024), we examine the state of gender inequality in Latin America, focusing on two critical spheres in which gender inequality is generated: education and work. We provide a current snapshot as well as a dynamic perspective that highlights successes and failures, reflect on differences in the ways that gender inequalities play out across different socioeconomic groups and countries in the region at different levels of per capita GDP, and draw comparisons with countries outside the region. What emerges is a complex picture with some areas of real progress while others of a striking lack, alongside important heterogeneity across and within countries.

Education

As in the OECD, Latin American women have higher levels of education than their male counterparts in the vast majority of countries in the region. While, for the most part, gender differences in secondary education are not a recent phenomenon and have been stable over the last 20 years, there is clear evidence of a widening gap in higher education. Judging by the experience of the OECD and that of the higher-income countries in the region, these gaps will continue to widen (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Evolution of higher education completion rates

In contrast to gender differences in the levels of educational attainment, those in achievement have shrunk over time. As shown in our paper, in third grade, girls perform better than boys in both reading and math in almost all Latin American countries, but by sixth grade, boys on average score better than girls in math while girls perform better than boys in reading. At age 15, the OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) evidence for 2018 shows that the gap in favour of girls in reading is substantial (though not as large as in the OECD), whereas the gap in maths favouring boys is smaller, particularly in the higher-income countries.

The PISA data from the 2012 exams allow us to explore whether there was a confidence gap as well as a test gap in maths. We construct a confidence index using answers to a series of statements - such as 'I am good at mathematics' and 'In my math class, I understand even the most difficult work' - in which individuals choose their degree of agreement with the statements. Boys on average were clearly more confident in their math skills and aptitudes than girls. While this may be thought to reflect an underlying reality, we show that this is not the case. Indeed, comparing boys and girls with the same math score, boys exhibited a higher degree of confidence both in Latin America and in the OECD (Figures 2a and 2b), a result also found in recent experimental evidence for the US (Exley and Kessler 2022).

Figure 2 Maths self-perception by percentile of PISA mathematics score distribution

Notes: The figure graphs the average math self-perception index (as defined in the text) against each percentile of the PISA score distribution (x-axis). The relationship is shown separately for boys (blue) and girls (orange) by country in Latin America (Figure a), and by country in the OECD (Figure b). The blue and orange lines depict the Lowess regression curves illustrating the relationships between the self-perception index and the PISA score percentile for boys and girls, respectively.

Gender gaps in math performance and confidence may also help account for disparities in the pursuit of STEM degrees and employment in STEM occupations observed across the region. In those Latin American countries with available data, at age 15 girls are less than half as likely as boys to expect to work in STEM areas; this closely mirrors the proportions of 30-40 year-old women working in STEM occupations. These disparities are significant because labour market returns in STEM fields far exceed those in sectors where women are over-represented, such as health or education.

Labour force participation

Alongside advancements in the educational attainment of women, there has been a substantial increase in female labour force participation over the past decades (e.g. Chile and Costa Rica), but in several countries, this progress has stalled at low levels (e.g. Colombia) or even regressed (e.g. Honduras and the Dominican Republic). The lifecycle graphs across different cohorts below illustrate this heterogeneity.

Figure 3 Female labour force participation over the life cycle across cohorts

Source: Berniell et al. (2024).

There is also significant heterogeneity within countries: across all Latin American countries, there is a pronounced education gradient in female labour force participation, with much higher labour force participation among women with higher education levels, mirrored by a similarly steep education gradient in labour force participation gender gaps (Figure 4). Whereas the gender gap among those with a college education is similar to that in the US, the gap for those with secondary education or less than completed secondary is substantially larger, indicating that women in these categories should be the main focus of policies to increase women's labour force participation in the region.

Figure 4 Gender gaps in labour force participation (F-M) by education

In addition to their lower participation in the labour market, employed women are over-represented in smaller firms and in the informal sector. Jobs in the informal sector typically come with less employment protection, diminished formal rights, and limited entitlements to in-work benefits. These gender gaps vary significantly by education. Women with a tertiary education are less likely than their male counterparts to be in the informal sector, whereas women with less education are significantly more likely to be employed in the informal sector (Figure 5). Women also lag behind men in wages, with little change over the last 20 years and, as we show in the paper, when we adjust wages for characteristics such as age, education, part-time versus full-time work, sector, and occupation, the wage gap actually widens, unlike in the US.

Figure 5 Gender gap in informality by education (F-M)

Culture

Gender attitudes towards women's work have been shown to be important determinants of women's labour supply (Fernández and Fogli 2009, Fernández et al. 2021). Not surprisingly, there is a negative correlation between attitudes towards women's work and the gender gap in labour force participation (Figure 6a), though it is encouraging to note that these attitudes have become more gender equal over time (from 2008 to 2015) as shown below (Figure 6b).

Figure 6 " A woman should work only if husband doesn't earn enough" (% disagreeing)

Note: Individuals aged 25-55 years old. Figure 6a shows, for 2015, the correlation between the degree of disagreement ('disagree' or 'strongly disagree') with the statement 'A woman should work only if her husband doesn't earn enough' and the gender gap in labour force participation (M-F). Figure 6b shows the percentage of individuals who disagree or strongly disagree with that statement in 2008 - the x-axis - and 2015 - the y-axis (as opposed to agreeing or strongly agreeing). The different colours refer to the different country groups: higher-income, upper-middle-income, and lower-middle-income. Source: authors' own calculations based on Latinobarometro, 2008 and 2015.

The importance of cultural beliefs regarding gender roles shows up clearly in the time spent in care activities and household chores. Figure 7 shows female-to-male ratios of hours worked in the market, in care and household chores ('non-market hours'), and in total, all for couples aged 25-45 years old. In Latin America this ratio is always above two for the non-market hours; in some countries, women put in five times the number of non-market hours as men. In all countries, women do more total hours of work. This can be compared with the US (included in the left-most figure), where women also put in more non-market hours but the ratio is slightly lower than in Latin America, leading to lower total hours for women than for men.

Figure 7 Market and non-market weekly working hours (ratio F/M)

There are also strong negative associations between having children and labour market outcomes for women; such associations are absent for men. Across the Latin American region, the labour force participation among women with children is significantly lower than that of those who do not have children. Following an approach aligned with several recent studies on the influence of children on the gender wage gap (e.g. Kleven et al. 2024), we employ a pseudo-panel event-study methodology to quantify the gaps that emerge between men and women after the birth of the first child and how these gaps evolve over the subsequent years. We show that in Latin American countries, women experience a substantial decline in labour force participation and earnings following parenthood - by more than 20% and 40%, respectively. While there are variations among countries, the results exhibit similarities across income groups (Figures 8 and 9).

Figure 8 Parenthood and labour force participation

Figure 9 Parenthood and earnings

Conclusion

To sum up, the picture that emerges from our analysis is mixed. On the one hand, there are important dimensions in which women in Latin America are at an advantage relative to men, such as educational attainment, and there are areas in which inequality has fallen over time, such as gender gaps in math and reading scores. Gender inequality persists, however, in several key indicators especially in the spheres of paid and unpaid work. Furthermore, in several of these domains, such as participation in the formal sector relative to the informal one, large gender gaps persist for individuals without a tertiary education. Finally, there are critical indicators, such as the gender wage gap, in which remarkably little progress has been made over the last 20 years.

Echoing wider calls for stronger action, the material presented in our work is intended to inspire and inform policy actions and spur further research in the critical areas that we have examined, as well as in other dimensions of gender inequality such as gender violence, healthcare, poverty, and political representation.

References

Badel, A, S Fabrizio, and R Goyal (2024), " Global gender gaps may never close on their own ", VoxEU.org, 16 May.

Berniell, I, R Fernández, and S Krutikova (2024), "Gender inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean", NBER Working Paper w32104.

Exley, C L, and J B Kessler (2022), "The gender gap in self-promotion", Quarterly Journal of Economics 137(3): 1345-81.

Fernández, R, and A Fogli (2009), "Culture: An empirical investigation of beliefs, work, and fertility", American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 1(1): 146-77.

Fernández, R, A Isakova, F Luna, and B Rambousek (2021), "Gender equality", in V Cerra, B Eichengreen, A El-Ganainy, and M Schindler (eds.), How to Achieve Inclusive Growth, Oxford University Press.

Kleven, H, C Landais, and G Leite-Mariante (2024), "The child penalty atlas", Review of Economic Studies, forthcoming.

World Economic Forum (2023), The global gender gap report 2023.

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The state of gender inequality in Latin America

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Women in Latin America have higher educational attainment than men, and gender inequality in maths and reading scores has fallen over time. Yet, gender gaps in labour force participation persist. This column examines gender inequality in Latin America, and finds that employed women are over-represented in smaller firms and the informal sector.

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Goal 5 drives people to understand the importance because there are a lot of gender stereotypes, violence, etc., against women.

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The world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. At the global level, none of the 18 indicators "met or almost met" the targets and only one is "close to target". At the current rate of progress, it is estimated that it will take up to 286 years to close gaps in leg al protection and remove discriminatory laws, 140 years for women to be represented equally in positions of power and leadership in the workplace, and 47 years to achieve equal representation in national parliaments. Cascading global crises have highlighted and exacerbated existing gender inequalities, such as unequal access to healthcare, education, and economic opportunities. Political leadership and a comprehensive set of policy reforms are needed to dismantle systemic barriers to the achievement of SDG4.

Target 5.1: Based on data collected in 2022 in 119 countries, 55% of the countries lacked laws that prohibit direct and indirect discrimination against women; half of the countries continued to lack quotas for women in the national parliament; 60% of the countries failed to have laws defining rape based on the principle of consent; 45% of countries did not mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value; over a third of countries failed to provide maternity leave in accordance with ILO standards; almost a quarter of countries did not grant women equal rights with men to enter into marriage and initiate divorce; and close to three-quarters of countries failed to stipulate 18 years as the minimum age of marriage for women and men, with no exceptions.

Target 5.3: One in five young women worldwide (19%) were married in childhood in 2022. Globally, the prevalence of child marriage has declined from 21% in 2016. However, the profound effects of COVID-19 are threatening this progress, with up to 10 million additional girls at risk of child marriage over the course of a decade from the onset of the pandemic.

Target 5.5: As of 1 January 2023, women held 26.5% of seats in lower and single chambers of national parliaments, up from 22.3% in 2015. At the local level, women held 35.4% of seats in deliberative bodies, up from 33.9% in 2020. At this pace, parity in such bodies cannot be achieved by 2030. Also, gender parity in political institutions continues to be rare: only six countries had 50% or more women in their lower/single chambers of national parliaments and 3 in local legislatures. Globally, women held only 28.2% of management positions in 2021 (up just 1% since 2015), although they accounted for almost 40% of total employment.

Target 5.6: Based on data from 68 countries for 2007-2022, only 56% of married or in-union women aged 15 to 49 make their own decisions regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights, ranging from an average of 37% in sub-Saharan Africa to over 80% in some countries in Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. Among the 115 countries with data in 2022, countries have in place, on average, 76% of the laws and regulations needed to guarantee full and equal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Target 5.a: Available data from 46 countries for 2009-2020 show that many women and men involved in agricultural production lack ownership and/or secure tenure rights over agricultural land. In one third of the countries, less than 50% of women and men have ownership or secure rights over agricultural land. The share of men having ownership is at least twice that of women in almost half of the countries. Of the 68 countries that reported on women's rights to land ownership and/or control in legal frameworks, by 2022, about 31% protect women's land rights considerably (a score of at least 5 out of 6), while 47% poorly protect women's land rights (a score of 3 out of 6 or below).

Target 5.b: Globally, 73% of the population aged 10 and over owned a mobile phone in 2022, up from 67% in 2019. Women were about 12% less likely to own mobile phones than men- the gap virtually unchanged from 2019.

Target 5.c: Based on data reported by 105 countries and areas for 2018-2021, 26% of countries globally have comprehensive systems in place to track and make public allocations for gender equality, 59% have some features of a system in place, and 15% do not have minimum elements of these systems.

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Goal 5 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs

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Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

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My goal is to help with middle East and north Africa focusing on improving education and heath access for women's and girls, combating gender based violence

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The main goal for gender equality is Sustainable Development

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The main goal for gender equality is Sustainable Development

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The main goal for gender equality is Sustainable Development When men and women are treated equal it helps make the world better If women have the same rights and chances like men they can go to school, get good jobs, and help their families and the country This makes the economy stronger and people live better lives. Also, when there is no unfair treatment, there is more peace and less problems. So gender equality is very important for having a good and fair world for everyone and for reaching Sustainable Development goals.

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Gender equality around the world is getting better but there are still a lot of problems More women are getting education and taking on leadership roles, but things like the gender pay gap violence against women and unpaid care work are still big issues Some countries are doing better with laws but others still have old beliefs that hold women back from having the same chances as men. there's more to learn about The Conversation has a lot of articles about it

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Gender equality News, Research and Analysis - The Conversation

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Browse Gender equality news, research and analysis from The Conversation

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Science Daily reports studies finding that the International Science Council has made progress the pace of gender equality in science has slowed, with continued challenges in STEM fields leadership and even the persistence of gender bias

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Gender equality is crucial for a climate resilient future

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A new study shows why gender equality trends should be central when planning how societies adapt to and mitigate climate change.

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in the same website challenges like Girls face double limits because of age and gender They have less freedom can’t always go to school or work etc... Many drop out of school early suffer from hunger and are at risk of violence and abuse like child marriage and harassment.

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Solutions

Across all five Goal Areas of the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2022-2025, the Gender Action Plan advances gender equality priorities throughout the life course and promotes targeted actions to advance the leadership and well-being of adolescent girls. This dual-track approach emphasizes structural and norms change - going beyond responding to the manifestations of gender inequality to tackling the underlying drivers.

With policy reform, capacity and access to institutions and services as well as community engagements around social norms, disrupting negative gender norms and promoting transformation toward equality and empowerment is possible. As part of UNICEF Adolescent Girl Strategy, we focus on:

1. Centering adolescent girls' Voice, agency and leadership in effectuating change

2. Promoting multi-faceted, multisectoral, integrated approaches

3. Generating quality data and evidence as a global good

4. Strengthening partnerships, including with girl-led networks and organizations

The priority results for gender equality across UNICEF include improvement in the quality of maternal health care and nutrition, counselling and care; more gender-responsive education systems and equitable access to education for all; progress towards the elimination of violence and harmful practices; more equitable water, sanitation and hygiene systems; and gender-responsive social protection systems. Targeted actions for adolescent girls include promoting health, nutrition and pregnancy care, and the prevention of HIV and human papilloma virus; advancing girls' education, learning and skills; ending child marriage and early unions; and promoting accessible and dignified menstrual health and hygiene services. To address gender-based violence, UNICEF will adopt a multisectoral strategy across all Goal Areas, using sector-wide and survivor-centred approaches. Integrating gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls into all humanitarian action is also a priority in the GAP.

The work of UNICEF on gender equality and the empowerment of girls and women is grounded in the human rights principles of non-discrimination and equality, upheld in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Climate change has a significant impact on adolescent girls, causing increased stress and pressure in their everyday lives. Climate change is exacerbating already existing inequalities, including gender inequality, and as such adolescent girls in MENA face significant impacts due to drought, rising temperatures, water quality decline, environmental degradation, and loss of biodiversity. This affects their mental and physical health and increases the risks of violence, exploitation, and other threats.

UNICEF works to address the challenges faced by adolescent girls due to climate change, ensuring the protection of their rights and promoting their sustainable development in affected communities. This includes empower and provide opportunities for adolescent girls and young women to participate in decision-making and achieve positive changes in their communities.

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Equal rights and opportunities for girls and boys across the region

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The problem of gender inequality is significant all over the world but especially in developing countries conflict zones, and even in developed nations where gaps still exist in areas like pay, leadership, education, and health

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Thinking about this topic about what it means when someone is gender this website UN population found informs me on the definition gender

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What is meant by gender?

The term gender refers to the economic, social and cultural attributes and opportunities associated with being male or female. In most societies, being a man or a woman is not simply a matter of different biological and physical characteristics. Men and women face different expectations about how they should dress, behave or work. Relations between men and women, whether in the family, the workplace or the public sphere, also reflect understandings of the talents, characteristics and behaviour appropriate to women and to men. Gender thus differs from sex in that it is social and cultural in nature rather than biological. Gender attributes and characteristics, encompassing, inter alia, the roles that men and women play and the expectations placed upon them, vary widely among societies and change over time. But the fact that gender attributes are socially constructed means that they are also amenable to change in ways that can make a society more just and equitable.

What is the difference between gender equity, gender equality and women's empowerment?

Gender equity is the process of being fair to women and men. To ensure fairness, strategies and measures must often be available to compensate for women's historical and social disadvantages that prevent women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing field. Equity leads to equality. Gender equality requires equal enjoyment by women and men of socially-valued goods, opportunities, resources and rewards. Where gender inequality exists, it is generally women who are excluded or disadvantaged in relation to decision-making and access to economic and social resources. Therefore a critical aspect of promoting gender equality is the empowerment of women, with a focus on identifying and redressing power imbalances and giving women more autonomy to manage their own lives. Gender equality does not mean that men and women become the same; only that access to opportunities and life changes is neither dependent on, nor constrained by, their sex. Achieving gender equality requires women's empowerment to ensure that decision-making at private and public levels, and access to resources are no longer weighted in men's favour, so that both women and men can fully participate as equal partners in productive and reproductive life.

Why is it important to take gender concerns into account in programme design and implementation?

Taking gender concerns into account when designing and implementing population and development programmes therefore is important for two reasons. First, there are differences between the roles of men and women, differences that demand different approaches. Second, there is systemic inequality between men and women. Universally, there are clear patterns of women's inferior access to resources and opportunities. Moreover, women are systematically under-represented in decision-making processes that shape their societies and their own lives. This pattern of inequality is a constraint to the progress of any society because it limits the opportunities of one-half of its population. When women are constrained from reaching their full potential, that potential is lost to society as a whole. Programme design and implementation should endeavour to address either or both of these factors.

What is gender mainstreaming?

Gender mainstreaming is a strategy for integrating gender concerns in the analysis, formulation and monitoring of policies, programmes and projects. It is therefore a means to an end, not an end in itself; a process, not a goal. The purpose of gender mainstreaming is to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women in population and development activities. This requires addressing both the condition, as well as the position, of women and men in society. Gender mainstreaming therefore aims to strengthen the legitimacy of gender equality values by addressing known gender disparities and gaps in such areas as the division of labour between men and women; access to and control over resources; access to services, information and opportunities; and distribution of power and decision-making. UNFPA has adopted the mainstreaming of gender concerns into all population and development activities as the primary means of achieving the commitments on gender equality, equity and empowerment of women stemming from the International Conference on Population and Development.

Gender mainstreaming, as a strategy, does not preclude interventions that focus only on women or only on men. In some instances, the gender analysis that precedes programme design and development reveals severe inequalities that call for an initial strategy of sex-specific interventions. However, such sex-specific interventions should still aim to reduce identified gender disparities by focusing on equality or inequity as the objective rather than on men or women as a target group. In such a context, sex-specific interventions are still important aspects of a gender mainstreaming strategy. When implemented correctly, they should not contribute to a marginalization of men in such a critical area as access to reproductive and sexual health services. Nor should they contribute to the evaporation of gains or advances already secured by women. Rather, they should consolidate such gains that are central building blocks towards gender equality.

Why is gender equality important?

Gender equality is intrinsically linked to sustainable development and is vital to the realization of human rights for all. The overall objective of gender equality is a society in which women and men enjoy the same opportunities, rights and obligations in all spheres of life. Equality between men and women exists when both sexes are able to share equally in the distribution of power and influence; have equal opportunities for financial independence through work or through setting up businesses; enjoy equal access to education and the opportunity to develop personal ambitions, interests and talents; share responsibility for the home and children and are completely free from coercion, intimidation and gender-based violence both at work and at home.

Within the context of population and development programmes, gender equality is critical because it will enable women and men to make decisions that impact more positively on their own sexual and reproductive health as well as that of their spouses and families. Decision-making with regard to such issues as age at marriage, timing of births, use of contraception, and recourse to harmful practices (such as female genital cutting) stands to be improved with the achievement of gender equality.

However it is important to acknowledge that where gender inequality exists, it is generally women who are excluded or disadvantaged in relation to decision-making and access to economic and social resources. Therefore a critical aspect of promoting gender equality is the empowerment of women, with a focus on identifying and redressing power imbalances and giving women more autonomy to manage their own lives. This would enable them to make decisions and take actions to achieve and maintain their own reproductive and sexual health. Gender equality and women's empowerment do not mean that men and women become the same; only that access to opportunities and life changes is neither dependent on, nor constrained by, their sex.

Is gender equality a concern for men?

The achievement of gender equality implies changes for both men and women. More equitable relationships will need to be based on a redefinition of the rights and responsibilities of women and men in all spheres of life, including the family, the workplace and the society at large. It is therefore crucial not to overlook gender as an aspect of men's social identity. This fact is, indeed, often overlooked, because the tendency is to consider male characteristics and attributes as the norm, and those of women as a variation of the norm.

But the lives of men are just as strongly influenced by gender as those of women. Societal norms and conceptions of masculinity and expectations of men as leaders, husbands or sons create demands on men and shape their behaviour. Men are too often expected to concentrate on the material needs of their families, rather than on the nurturing and caring roles assigned to women. Socialization in the family and later in schools promotes risk-taking behaviour among young men, and this is often reinforced through peer pressure and media stereotypes. So the lifestyles that men's roles demand often result in their being more exposed to greater risks of morbidity and mortality than women. These risks include ones relating to accidents, violence and alcohol consumption.

Men also have the right to assume a more nurturing role, and opportunities for them to do so should be promoted. Equally, however, men have responsibilities in regard to child health and to their own and their partners' sexual and reproductive health. Addressing these rights and responsibilities entails recognizing men's specific health problems, as well as their needs and the conditions that shape them. The adoption of a gender perspective is an important first step; it reveals that there are disadvantages and costs to men accruing from patterns of gender difference. It also underscores that gender equality is concerned not only with the roles, responsibilities and needs of women and men, but also with the interrelationships between them.

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Frequently asked questions about gender equality

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What is meant by gender?The term gender refers to the economic, social and cultural attributes and opportunities associated with being male or female. In most societies, being a man or a woman is not simply a matter of different biological and physical characteristics. Men and w

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"The term gender refers to the economic, social and cultural attributes and opportunities associated with being male or female. In most societies, being a man or a woman is not simply a matter of different biological and physical characteristics. Men and women face different expectations about how they should dress, behave or work. Relations between men and women, whether in the family, the workplace or the public sphere, also reflect understandings of the talents, characteristics and behavior appropriate to women and to men. Gender thus differs from sex in that it is social and cultural in nature rather than biological. Gender attributes and characteristics, encompassing, inter alia, the roles that men and women play and the expectations placed upon them, vary widely among societies and change over time. But the fact that gender attributes are socially constructed means that they are also amenable to change in ways that can make a society more just and equitable." When I read this I think about how gender is shaped by society not just biology. reflecting on the rules about how men and women "should" act" dress or work is shaped by culture and not nature. Also thinking that since these roles are made by people they can be changed to be more equal and fair for everyone.

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In this website the first few paragraphs discuss gender stereotypes, defining them as generalized views about women and men and explaining how these stereotypes can be harmful and limit opportunities They also highlight how gender stereotypes can intersect with other forms of bias impacting certain groups of women. Finally, the text defines gender stereotyping as the practice of assigning characteristics or roles based solely on gender, and explains that it becomes harmful when it violates human rights.

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A gender stereotype is a generalized view or preconception about attributes or characteristics, or the roles that are or ought to be possessed by, or performed by, women and men.A gender stereotype is harmful when it limits women’s and men’s capacity to develop their personal abilities, pursue their professional careers and/or make choices about their lives.

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One fact that brought my attention was Exacerbated inequalities, contribute to the undervaluation of feminine characteristics and women are often stereotyped as being emotional and nurturing while men are stereotyped as being strong and assertive.

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I think I want to research gender equality n help with equal right between women and men Goal #5. I will focus on Middle East and North Africa and focusing on improving education and health access for women and girls, combating gender-based violence through multisectoral strategies, promoting women's economic and political participation, addressing discriminatory social norms, and strengthening legal frameworks that guarantee women's rights

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In the middle East and north Africa gender equality is essential to UNICEF (The United nation children fund) mission, as discrimination affects children from before birth thought out childhood. In the MENA past some progress girls and young women face major barriers due to age and gender norms

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Solutions

Across all five Goal Areas of the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2022-2025, the Gender Action Plan advances gender equality priorities throughout the life course and promotes targeted actions to advance the leadership and well-being of adolescent girls. This dual-track approach emphasizes structural and norms change - going beyond responding to the manifestations of gender inequality to tackling the underlying drivers.

With policy reform, capacity and access to institutions and services as well as community engagements around social norms, disrupting negative gender norms and promoting transformation toward equality and empowerment is possible. As part of UNICEF Adolescent Girl Strategy, we focus on:

1. Centering adolescent girls' Voice, agency and leadership in effectuating change

2. Promoting multi-faceted, multisectoral, integrated approaches

3. Generating quality data and evidence as a global good

4. Strengthening partnerships, including with girl-led networks and organizations

The priority results for gender equality across UNICEF include improvement in the quality of maternal health care and nutrition, counselling and care; more gender-responsive education systems and equitable access to education for all; progress towards the elimination of violence and harmful practices; more equitable water, sanitation and hygiene systems; and gender-responsive social protection systems. Targeted actions for adolescent girls include promoting health, nutrition and pregnancy care, and the prevention of HIV and human papilloma virus; advancing girls' education, learning and skills; ending child marriage and early unions; and promoting accessible and dignified menstrual health and hygiene services. To address gender-based violence, UNICEF will adopt a multisectoral strategy across all Goal Areas, using sector-wide and survivor-centred approaches. Integrating gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls into all humanitarian action is also a priority in the GAP.

The work of UNICEF on gender equality and the empowerment of girls and women is grounded in the human rights principles of non-discrimination and equality, upheld in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Climate change has a significant impact on adolescent girls, causing increased stress and pressure in their everyday lives. Climate change is exacerbating already existing inequalities, including gender inequality, and as such adolescent girls in MENA face significant impacts due to drought, rising temperatures, water quality decline, environmental degradation, and loss of biodiversity. This affects their mental and physical health and increases the risks of violence, exploitation, and other threats.

UNICEF works to address the challenges faced by adolescent girls due to climate change, ensuring the protection of their rights and promoting their sustainable development in affected communities. This includes empower and provide opportunities for adolescent girls and young women to participate in decision-making and achieve positive changes in their communities.

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Equal rights and opportunities for girls and boys across the region

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In the website UNICEF it says "Across all five Goal Areas of the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2022–2025, the Gender Action Plan advances gender equality priorities throughout the life course and promotes targeted actions to advance the leadership and well-being of adolescent girls." so basically this supports gender equality across all UNICEF strategics plan goal area 2022-2025 will focus on teen girls leadership and well being .

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A strong approach to solving gender inequality involves multi level strategies targeting systemic, social, legal, and individual factors

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In the past 25 years - from the First World Conference on Women (1975), throughout the Decade for Women (1976 - 1985), and continuing until now - there has been a great deal of debate about what constitutes the most effective strategies and approaches for supporting gender equality. In the period since the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995), there has been a particular focus on two approaches: women's empowerment and gender mainstreaming. Another important area of focus has been capacity-building for institutions in order to enable them to incorporate a gender equality perspective in their work. This collection of Good Practices contains examples to illustrate each of these areas. This page provides conceptual information as well as practical examples to help users learn more about these strategies.

Women's Empowerment
Gender Mainstreaming
Institutional Capacity-Building
Database Examples

Empowerment
A women's empowerment strategy emphasizes the importance of addressing years of discrimination against women by devising programmes and strategies that increase women's skills, capacities, rights, and opportunities. It addresses ways in which development cooperation initiatives help create the conditions whereby women can become the agents of their own development and empowerment. It thus emphasizes the transformatory potential of development initiatives - in terms of sustainability as well as ensuring that women feel that they have been the agents of the transformation, that they have won this new space for action themselves. The increased popularity of the empowerment concept "mirrors the shift away for top-down planning towards more participatory forms of development and moves by donor agencies to embrace NGOs as partners in development" (Oxaal and Baden, 1997).

If empowerment is the ability to exercise power, then everyday forms of women's empowerment are the ability of women to exercise power in the social institutions that govern their daily lives: the household and extended family; local community councils and associations; local elite; local markets and local government (Carr et al, 1996). Women's advocates have emphasized that empowerment cannot be done from the outside, "it is something women need to do for themselves" (Sen and Batliwala, 1997). Thus, it is misleading to assume that governments or other external agents can empower women.

One aspect of empowerment is women's participation in formal political structures. This was recognized in one of the critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform for Action, 'women in power and decision-making.' However, it seeks "to identify power less in terms of domination over others (with its implicit assumption that a gain for women implies a loss for men), and more in terms of the capacity of women to increase their own self-reliance and internal strength."

As both a process and a goal, women's empowerment is fundamentally connected to democratization, human rights and the self determination of women and men.

Excerpted and adapted from: DAC Sourcebook on Concepts and Approaches Linked To Gender Equality (Schalkwyk and Woroniuk, 1997) www.oecd.org/dac/htm/sourcebk.htm

Women's Empowerment Revisited (Elson and Bisnath)

Gender Mainstreaming
A gender mainstreaming strategy emphasizes the importance of addressing the different impacts and opportunities that a particular programme or policy may have on women and men. The strategy focuses on making gender equality concerns central to policy formulation, legislation, resource allocations, and planning and monitoring of programmes. Using a gender mainstreaming strategy to achieve gender equality requires changes in awareness and capacity of all personnel, and implies strong management commitment. A knowledge base on the linkages between gender equality and the substantive issues and processes in organizational programmes needs to be developed, and practical analytical skills fostered. Methodologies and tools need to be developed and resource bases of more in-depth expertise in relevant areas established.

Given the high priority granted mainstreaming strategies in the Beijing Platform for Action, it is important to understand the challenges and the benefits of this approach.

Distinguishing means and ends: One way of understanding mainstreaming is to distinguish three different targets or areas for action. Support to gender mainstreaming can take place at the level of: (i) the country, e.g. through mainstreaming gender into its institutions, laws, and government policies; (ii) the development cooperation programme -- either with partner governments or multilateral organizations; and (iii) the agency itself -- its procedures and structures.

Challenging the development agenda: Effective gender mainstreaming calls for a complete transformation of the development agenda, so that the participation of women as decision makers influences development priorities and activities.

Specific initiatives to support equality objectives: A mainstreaming strategy does not rule out funding specific projects that empower women to work toward equality. The crucial prerequisite is that they are based on an analysis of the different situations of men and women and support gender equality.

Excerpted and adapted from: DAC Sourcebook on Concepts and Approaches Linked To Gender Equality (Schalkwyk and Woroniuk, 1997)

Institutional Capacity-building Strategies
The capacity of institutions (ministries, parastatals, NGOs, etc.) to incorporate an understanding of gender and women's empowerment in their work is a fundamental cornerstone of a gender equality strategy. Many multilateral, bilateral, government and non-governmental organizations have invested in training to increase staff skills in gender analysis over the past 10 years. Guidelines, checklists and gender action plans have been developed to assist staff in programming. Yet, experience has demonstrated that institutionalizing a commitment to and competence in programmes and policies that support gender equality remains a critical challenge.

Both women's empowerment and gender mainstreaming strategies are relevant to efforts to build internal institutional capacity to support gender equality. Empowerment strategies may focus on providing leadership and skill training to ensure that women can take advantage of opportunities to rise to senior positions. Gender mainstreaming strategies may involve analyzing differential impacts of organizational policies on women staff members or ensuring that gender concerns are taken into account in programmes.

It is critical to recognize, however, that no single strategy can be used to build institutional capacity to support gender equality. Often, institutional leaders might think that simply achieving parity (50/50) between women and men in decision-making positions, or having an equality policy is enough. In fact, building institutional capacity for gender equality encompasses a wide range of initiatives, involving training, review of policies and programmes, incorporating gender-accountable procedures into recruitment and performance evaluation procedures, issuing guidelines and checklists, and many other activities.

Many experts in gender and organizational change (for example, Goetz (1995a) and Calás and Smircich (1996) and Rao, Stuart and Kelleher (1999)) have raised questions about how gender relations influence the very constitution of institutions and how institutions continue to produce policies and programmes that fail to recognize the needs of women. As Rao, Kelleher and Stuart (1999) assert, "gender equality can be achieved by organizations only (through)...changing inequitable power relations..." This implies a capacity-building approach that is comprehensive and attentive to both the overt (programmes and policies) and covert (culture and human relations) processes in organizations.

Capacity-building strategies can include any of the following, as well as others:

Building institutional capacity to assess programmes, policies, performance, and procedures from a gender perspective;

Providing general and thematic gender analysis training for programme staff;

Undertaking organizational gender 'audits' to identify areas of good practice and obstacles to equality initiatives;

Organizing dialogues, roundtables and briefings for staff on gender issues that are relevant to their work;

Developing resource material collections, websites, and/or 'hotlines' that assist staff to access needed background material on gender and women's empowerment;

Developing guidelines and checklists that assist staff to determine if they are supporting women's empowerment and/or gender mainstreaming strategies;

Assisting those specifically assigned to advocate for gender equality - e.g., gender units and focal points - to develop skills in advocacy, negotiation and other necessary 'change agent' qualities;

Developing gender equality action plans at the departmental and organizational levels.

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In the past 25 years - from the First World Conference on Women (1975), throughout the Decade for Women (1976 - 1985), and continuing until now - there has been a great deal of debate about what constitutes the most effective strategies and approaches for supporting gender equality.

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How can expanding access to quality education for women and girls in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) contribute to economic growth and gender equality in the region?

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How can certain strategies improve women's and girls access to health care in the MENA region?

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How do cultural and social attitudes in the Middle East and North Africa affect women’s access to education and healthcare?

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My final question is How do cultural and social attitudes in the Middle East and North Africa affect women’s access to education and healthcare. This question helps with gender equality because it looks at how cultural and social attitudes limit women’s access to education and healthcare which are key rights. By understanding these barriers and suggesting changes it points to ways girls can gain equal opportunities Education and healthcare empower women to participate fully in society making equality more achievable.