=

OVERVIEW

The revolution for gender equality

One of the defining movements of the 20th importance to the abolition of slavery, the
century has been the relentless struggle for elimination of colonialism and the estab- The relentless
gender equality, led mostly by women, but lishment of equal rights for racial and eth- struggle for gender
supported by growing numbers of men. nic minorities.
When this struggle finally succeeds-as it A full analysis of the historical and equality will
must-it will mark a great milestone in political movement for gender equality change most of
human progress. And along the way it will extends far beyond what can be covered in today's premises
change most of today's premises for social, this Report. No numbers, no indices, no
economic and political life. policy packages can capture the true for social,
The Human Development Report has essence of that movement. But they can economic and
consistently defined the basic objective of help propel that movement by providing the political life
development as enlarging people's choices. background of professional analysis.
At the heart of this concept are three essen-
tial components:
• Equality of opportunity for all people in Human development, if not
society. engendered, is endangered. That is the
• Sustainability of such opportunities simple but far-reaching message of this
from one generation to the next. Report
• Empowerment of people so that they
participate in-and benefit from-develop- Human development is a process of en-
ment processes. larging the choices for all people, not just
Equal enjoyment of human rights by for one part of society. Such a process
women and men is a universally accepted becomes unjust and discriminatory if most
principle, reaffirmed by the Vienna declara- women are excluded from its benefits. And
tion, adopted by 171 states at the World the continuing exclusion of women from
Conference on Human Rights in]une 1993. many economic and political opportunities
It has many dimensions: is a continuing indictment of modern
• Equal access to basic social services, progress.
including education and health. For too long, it was assumed that devel-
• Equal opportunities for participation in opment was a process that lifts all boats,
political and economic decision-making. that its benefits trickled down to all income
• Equal reward for equal work. classes-and that it was gender-neutral in
• Equal protection under the law. its impact. Experience teaches otherwise.
• Elimination of discrimination by gender Wide income disparities and gender gaps
and violence against women. stare us in the face in all societies.
• Equal rights of citizens in all areas of life, Moving towards gender equality is not a
both public-such as the workplace-and technocratic goal-it is a political process.
private-such as the home. It requires a new way of thinking-in which
The recognition of equal rights for the stereotyping of women and men gives
women along with men, and the determina- way to a new philosophy that regards all
tion to combat discrimination on the basis people, irrespective of gender, as essential
of gender, arc achievements equal in agents of change.

THL RI:\,OLU'llOl\: FOR GL 'DER EQUALITY

 The human development paradigm, Barbados (rank 11), Hong Kong (17), the
which puts people at the centre of its Bahamas (26), Singapore (28), Uruguay
concerns, must thus be fully engendered. (32) and Thailand (33). These countries
Any such attempt would embrace at least have succeeded in building the basic human
the following three principles: capabilities of both women and men, with-
• Equality of rights between women and out substantial gender disparity.
men must be enshrined as a fundamental But it is clear from the GDI estimates
principle. Legal, economic, political or cul- that in no society do women enjoy the same
tural barriers that prevent the exercise of opportunities as men. The top rank is
equal rights should be identified and enjoyed by Sweden, with a GDI value of
removed through comprehensive policy O.92-compared with a maximum possible
reforms and strong affirmative action. value of 1.00 (maximum achievement with
The human • Women must be regarded as agents and perfect equality). Mter the top 32 coun-
beneficiaries of change. Investing in tries, the GDI value drops below 0.80-
development
women's capabilities and empowering showing how far women still have to travel
paradigm must be them to exercise their choices is not only towards gender equality even in countries
fully engendered valuable in itself but is also the surest that seem to be doing better on this score.
way to contribute to economic growth and More disturbing is that as many as 45 coun-
overall development. tries in the sample analysis are below a GDI
• The engendered development model, value of 0.5, showing that women suffer the
though aiming to widen choices for both double deprivation of gender disparity and
women and men, should not predetermine low achievement.
how different cultures and different socie- Another interesting comparison is
ties exercise these choices. What is im- between the overall HDI rank of a country
portant is that equal opportunities to make and its gender-adjusted rank for the GDI-
a choice exist for both women and men. since this shows how equitably basic human
capabilities are distributed between men
and women. The countries showing GDI
In no society do women enjoy the same ranks markedly higher than their HDI ranks
opportunities as men are fairly diverse. They include Denmark,
Sweden, Norway and Finland-and the
An innovation of this year's Report, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and
gender-related development index (GDI), Poland-and Barbados, Thailand, Sri
reflects gender disparities in basic human Lanka, Malaysia, Jamaica and Cuba.
capabilities-and ranks 130 countries on a The countries with GDI ranks markedly
global scale. The four top countries are in below their HDI ranks include Argentina,
the Nordic belt-Sweden, Finland, Nor- Chile, Costa Rica and several Arab states.
way and Denmark, in that order. This is Arab countries face a formidable agenda
hardly surprising. These countries, much for equalizing gender opportunities-
concerned with ending the relative depri- though they have made the fastest progress
vation of women, have adopted gender in the past two decades in several gender-
equality and women's empowerment as related indicators, particularly in female
conscious national policies. In these coun- education.
tries, adult literacy rates are similar for Among the countries with sharply lower
women and men, and combined enrolment GDI ranks are four industrial countries-
is higher for females. Life expectancy is, on Canada (a drop from HDI rank of 1 to GDI
average, about seven years higher for rank of 9), Luxembourg (-12), the
women (compared with an estimated global Netherlands (-16) and Spain (-26 ranks).
biological edge of five years). And women's The real difference is in women's share of
earned income is around three-fourths of earned income compared with men's
, .
men smcome. share-a reflection of the much lower
Several developing countries and areas participation of women in the labour force
also do quite well in the GDI rankings: and their lower average wage.

2 HUMAJ DEVELOPMENT REPORT 1995

 20% faster than male life expectancy over
Removing gender inequality has the past two decades.
nothing to do with national income • High fertility rates, which severely
restrict the freedom of choice for women,
Income is not the decisive factor. Several of have fallen by a third-from 4.7 live births
the world's poor nations have been able to per woman in 1970-75 to 3.0 in 1990-95.
raise female literacy rates. With limited Life choices are expanding as women are
resources but a strong political commit- progressively liberated from the burden of
ment, China, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe frequent child-bearing and from the risk of
raised adult women's literacy to 70% or dying in childbirth. Maternal mortality
more. By contrast, several richer countries rates have been nearly halved in the past
lag behind. two decades.
The decision to invest in the education • More than half the married women of It is still an
and health of people, irrespective of gender, reproductive age in the developing world, unequal world
seems to cut across income levels, political or their partners, used modern contracep-
ideologies, cultures and stages of develop- tives in 1990, compared with less than a
ment. In many cases, a strong political com- quarter in 1980. This planned parenthood
mitment has driven efforts to improve has brought women much greater control
women's human development despite a over their lives.
shortage of resources. Countries applying In adult literacy and school enrolment,
socialist models, for example, used social the gaps between women and men were
and political mobilization to achieve rapid halved between 1970 and 1990 in develop-
-and equal-progress in education and ing countries. Women's literacy increased
health for men and women and to engineer from 54% of the male rate in 1970 to 74%
social transformations to expand opportu- in 1990-and combined female primary
nities for women. and secondary enrolment increased from
Comparing GDI ranks with the income 67% of the male rate to 86%. Female rates
levels of countries confirms that removing of adult literacy and combined school enrol-
gender inequalities is not dependent on ment in the developing world increased
having a high income. China is ten GDI twice as fast as male rates between 1970
ranks above Saudi Arabia, even though its and 1990.
real per capita income is a fifth as high. The Arab States have led the advance in
Thailand outranks Spain in the GDI, even women's education, more than doubling
though Thailand's real per capita income is female literacy rates. Indeed, the fastest
less than half of Spain's. Poland's GDI rank improvement in women's literacy rates-68
is 50 places higher than Syria's, even though percentage points between 1970 and
the two countries have about the same real 1990-took place in the United Arab
income. So, gender equality can be pursued Emirates.
-and it has been-at all levels of income. Overall, female primary enrolment in
What it requires is a firm political commit- developing countries increased 1.7% a year
ment, not enormous financial wealth. during 1970-90, compared with 1.2% for
male enrolment. Girls' combined primary
and secondary enrolment in the developing
Every country has made progress in world jumped dramatically, from 38% in
developing women's capabilities, but 1970 to 68% in 1992. East Asia (83%) and
women and men still live in an unequal Latin America (87%) are already approach-
world ing the high levels in industrial countries
(97%).
Gender gaps in education and health have Also remarkable is the rapid closing of
narrowed rapidly in the past two decades, the gap in higher education. In developing
although the pace of this progress has been countries, female enrolment at the tertiary
uneven between regions and countries: level was less than half the male rate in
• Female life expectancy has increased 1970, but by 1990 it had reached 70%. In

THE RE\'OLUTION FOR GElDER EQUALlll 3

 32 countries, more women than men are 1990. Compare that with a two-thirds
now enrolled at the tertiary level. increase in female adult literacy and
But it is still an unequal world. Among school enrolment.
the developing world's 900 million illiterate • Women receive a disproportionately
people, women outnumber men two to one. small share of credit from formal banking
And girls constitute 60% of the 130 million institutions. They are assumed to have no
children without access to primary school. collateral to offer-despite working much
Because population has grown faster than harder than men. For example, in Latin
women's education has expanded in some America and the Caribbean, women consti-
developing regions, the number of women tute only 7-11% of the beneficiaries of
who are illiterate has increased. credit programmes.
During the 20 years from 1970 to 1990, • Women normally receive a much lower
The doors to only half the educational gap between men average wage than men, because they hold
economic and and women was closed. Another 20 years is low-paying jobs or work in the informal sec-
too long to wait to close the remaining half. tor and because they are sometimes paid
political Women's special health needs also suf- less than men for equal work. The average
opportunities are fer considerable neglect. Many developing female wage is only three-fourths of the
barely ajar countries do not provide qualified birth male wage in the non-agricultural sector in
attendants, good prenatal or postnatal care 55 countries that have comparable data.
or emergency care during deliveries. In • All regions record a higher rate of unem-
most poor countries, pregnancy complica- ployment among women than men.
tions are the largest single cause of death • In developing countries, women still
among women in their reproductive years. constitute less than a seventh of adminis-
Nearly half a million maternal deaths occur trators and managers.
each year in developing countries. Too • Women still occupy only 10% of the par-
often, the miracle of life becomes a night- liamentary seats and only 6% of the cabinet
mare of death. positions.
• In 55 countries, there are either no
women in parliament or fewer than 5%.
While doors to education and health These countries range from very poor
opportunities have opened rapidly for (Bhutan and Ethiopia) to reasonably afflu-
women, the doors to economic and ent (Greece, Kuwait, the Republic of Korea
political opportunities are barely ajar and Singapore).
Despite considerable progress in de-
Major forces in closing the gender gaps veloping women's capabilities, their partici-
over the past two decades are higher female pation in economic and political decision-
enrolments at all levels in developing making remains very limited.
countries-and rising women's paid em- Another innovation of this year's
ployment in industrial countries. But the Report, the gender empowerment mea-
opportunities open to women have sure (GEM), looks at women's represen-
remained limited. The Report marshals tation in parliaments, women's share of
detailed evidence of the unequal access to positions classified as managerial and pro-
opportunities. Some telling examples: fessional, women's participation in the
• Poverty has a woman's face-of 1.3 bil- active labour force and their share of
lion people in poverty, 70% are women. The national income. It ranks 116 countries
increasing poverty among women has been with comparable data.
linked to their unequal situation in the Once again, the ordic countries lead
labour market, their treatment under social the world, with Sweden and Norway on
welfare systems and their status and power top. These countries are not only good at
in the family. strengthening female capabilities but have
• Women's labour force participation also opened many opportunities in eco-
has risen by only four percentage points in nomic and political fields. The Nordic
20 years-from 36% in 1970 to 40% in countries have crossed the critical 30%

4 HUMAN D[VELOP~I[J\:T REPORT 1995

 FIGURE 1
Expanding capabilities. limited opportunities
The human development index (HOI) measures the The gender-related development index (GDI) The gender empowerment measure (GEM) exam-
average achievement of a country in basic human measures achievement in the same basic ines whether women and men are able to actively
capabilities. The HOI indicates whether people lead capabilities as the HOI does, but takes note of participate in economic and political life and take
a long and healthy life, are educated and know- inequality in achievement between women part in decision-making.
ledgeable and enjoy a decent standard of living. and men.

Global comparisons
GNP Industrial
~:~ita countries
(1992) $21,352

1.000 HDI value Developing G ~~.v..~~~_: G EM value

countries
Industrial ~924
0.900 __ __~9..':.l_i'!!~~~~. _.~••':-:--~__~_~__,..", ~-_--:.::.-;:,;-_;: .___::,
:.; __::_-.:_,::__:.::_,::__:..:._::__.:.__:..:_,:__~_~
Economic and political opportunities
0.800
are universally denied to women
in both industrial and developing countries.
0.700

World . - _
0.600

:-~o~- --D~:~~~~~;~~--·---:------------- - ---------- _=_ • Industrial countries

00400 Developing countries as a group

have attained an HOI two-thirds
that of industrial countries despite • World
Expanding human capabilities
0.300 an average income of less than • Developing countries
----------. - one-twentieth that of industrial are increasingly more equally shared.
countries.
0.200
- ---------------------- --~-- ------ ---------------- ----- -------.---------
Regional comparisons
GNP Latin America
per and the Caribbean
capita $2,799
(1992) Arab States $1,662

Sub-Saharan Least
Africa developed
1$365 1 countries $356

1.000 HDI value GDI value GEM value

0.900

0.800
-------Tiltfii-Amerfca--
and the Caribbean ""., _
0.700 _~ ~ • w ... =_~ _
Arab States •
_~:~9~ A~j@l ~~::::_.",
__""" :;;:.:..:.:.

0.500

• Latin America and

the Caribbean

Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Least developed countries
0.200 Arab States

Note: All figures are calculated for the 104 countries for which estimates of HOI, GOI and GEM are available. The graphs Include 27 countries in Africa, 11 Arab States, 17 countries In Asia,
25 countries In Latin America and the Caribbean and 28 of the least developed countries

11 II. R.E\'OLlJTIO. ' FOR GL DER LQUALITY 5

 threshold for women's participation ill three-quarters of men's work is in market
these spheres of life. activities. So, men receive the lion's share of
Only nine countries have GEM values income and recognition for their economic
above 0.6, compared with 66 countries with contribution-while most of women's work
a GDI value above 0.6. On the other hand, remains unpaid, unrecognized and under-
39 countries have a GEM value below OJ, valued.
compared with only 13 countries with a With no economic value given to these
GDI value below 0.3. Since the GDI mea- activities, the contribution of women is
sures gender equality in basic human capa- seriously underestimated, and there is no
bilities and the GEM gender equality in adequate reward or recognition for the bur-
economic and political opportunities, this den of work that women carry. In fact, the
comparison makes it clear that many coun- failure to value most of their work reduces
The non- tries have a longer distance to travel in women to virtual non-entities in most eco-
extending broad economic and political nomic transactions-such as property own-
monetized,
opportunities to women than they have ership or offering collateral for bank loans.
invisible already traveled in building basic female Since status in contemporary society is
contribution of capabilities. so often equated with income-earning
But it is precisely the participation of power, women suffer a major undervalua-
women is $11
women at the highest decision-making lev- tion of their economic status. But they carry
trillion a year els in political and economic life that can a higher share of the total work burden.
drive the change for greater equality And men's work in the market-place is
between men and women. often the result of "joint production", not a
solo effort, since much of it might not be
possible if women did not stay at home
A major index of neglect is that many of looking after the children and household.
women's economic contributions are If women's unpaid work were properly
grossly undervalued or not valued at valued, it is quite possible that women
all-on the order of $11 trillion a year would emerge in most societies as the major
breadwinners-or at least equal breadwin-
The undervaluation of women is reflected ners-since they put in longer hours of
in the undervaluation of their work and in work than men.
the absence of recognition of the contribu- The monetization of the non-market
tion that they make. The debate therefore work of women is more than a question of
must cover equality of rewards as well as justice. It concerns the economic status of
equality of opportunity. Data on time use by women in society. If more human activities
women and men for a sample of 31 coun- were seen as market transactions at the pre-
tries tell a dramatic story: vailing wages, they would yield gigantically
• Women work longer hours than men in large monetary valuations. A rough order of
nearly every country. Of the total burden of magnitude comes to a staggering $16 tril-
work, women carry on average 53% in lion-or about 70% more than the officially
developing countries and 51% in industrial estimated $23 trillion of global output. This
countries. estimate includes the value of the unpaid
• On average, about half of this total work work performed by women and men as well
time of both men and women is spent in as the value of the underpayment of
economic activities in the market or in the women's work in the market at prevailing
subsistence sector. The other half is nor- wages. Of this $16 trillion, $11 trillion is the
mally devoted to unpaid household or com- non-monetized, invisible contribution of
munity activities. women.
• Of men's total work time in industrial Such a revaluation of women's work will
countries, roughly two-thirds is spent in thoroughly challenge the present conven-
paid activities and one-third in unpaid tions. For husbands to share income with
activities. For women, the situation is the their wives will become an act of entitle-
reverse. In developing countries, more than ment rather than benevolence. The basis of

6
property rights, divorce settlements, collat- • It scars early lzfe. A third of the women
eral for bank credit-to name only a few in Barbados, Canada, the Netherlands,
areas-will have to change completely. Men New Zealand, Norway and the United
will also have to share more of the burden States report sexual abuse during child-
of household and community work. hood or adolescence. An estimated one mil-
If national statistics fully reflect the lion children, mostly girls in Asia, are forced
"invisible" contribution of women, it will into prostitution annually. And an esti-
become impossible for policy-makers to mated 100 million girls suffer genital
ignore them in national decisions. or will mutilation.
women continue to be regarded as eco- • It becomes a part ofmam"age. Studies in
nomic non-entities in market transactions. Chile, Mexico, Papua New Guinea and the
Republic of Korea indicate that two-thirds
or more of married women have experi- The free workings
Another major element of enced domestic violence. In Germany, it is of economic and
discrimination is the unacceptably low estimated that up to four million women a
status of women in society, with year suffer from domestic violence. political processes
continuing legal discrimination and • It is sometimes manzfested in rape. Studies are unlikely to
violence against women from Canada, New Zealand, the United deliver equality of
Kingdom and the United States suggest
The starkest reflection of the low status that about one woman in six is raped in her opportunity
accorded to women is the discrimination lifetime.
against them in the law. In many countries, • It may end in murder. More than half of
women still are not treated as equal to all murders of women in Bangladesh,
men-whether in property rights, rights of Brazil, Kenya, Papua New Guinea and
inheritance, laws related to marriage and Thailand are committed by present or for-
divorce, or the rights to acquire nationality, mer partners.
manage property or seek employment. • Or in suicide. Cross-cultural evidence
In 1979, the United ations approved from Mrica, South America, several
the Convention on the Elimination of All Melanesian islands and the United States
Forms of Discrimination Against Women established marital violence as a leading
(CEDAW), a path-breaking charter of the cause of female suicide.
legal and human rights of women. But 41 Although violence stalks women's lives,
UN member states still have not signed the laws can do little unless present cultural and
convention, 6 have signed without ratifica- social values change.
tion, and 43 have ratified the convention
with reservations about some of its provi-
sions. In other words, 90 countries have not The revolution towards gender equality
yet accepted all the tenets of legal equality must be propelled by a concrete strategy
for women and men. Even in some coun- for accelerating progress
tries ratifying CEDA~ the implementation
of the convention has remained half- Engendering the development paradigm
hearted and incomplete. So, even under involves radical change in the long-standing
law, the equality of women is not yet assured premises for social, economic and political
in many societies-let alone in practice. life. And the free workings of economic and
The most painful devaluation of women political processes are unlikely to deliver
is the physical and psychological violence equality of opportunity, because of the pre-
that stalks them from cradle to grave. For vailing inequities in power structures. When
too many women, life is shadowed by a such structural barriers exist, government
threat of violence. intervention is necessary-both through
• The devaluation begins even before lzfe comprehensive policy reforms and through
begins. In some countries, testing is used to a series of affirmative actions.
determine the sex of the fetus, which may Each nation will need to adopt its own
be aborted if it is female. agenda for overcoming obstacles to equal

7
 rights. This Report identifies a five-point tries, maternity leave was changed from
strategy for accelerating progress. protecting mothers' health after birth to
providing parents with legal rights for
1. National and international efforts must parental care. The concept of paternity
be mobilized to win legal equality within a leave supplemented maternity leave. Japan
defined period-say, the next ten years. To introduced parental leave in 1992-for
achieve this objective, the international both mother and father. The United States
community will need to move on several in 1994 endorsed limited parental leave,
fronts: but without pay.
• A campaign should be launched for The Nordic countries have perhaps
unconditional ratification of CEDAW by traveled furthest. In Finland starting in
the 90 UN member states that have not yet 1990, parents could choose between two
Government signed or ratified it or that have entered alternatives: after a 12-month maternity
intervention is reservations. Public pressure should be leave, either parent can stay at home until
mobilized for this purpose. the child is three years old, with monetary
necessary-through • The monitoring of CEDAW's imple- compensation and job guarantees. Or the
policy reforms and mentation should be strengthened within community must arrange for child care
affirmative actions the UN system, and regular, candid reports while parents work outside the home. Some
should be published on legal discrimination Nordic countries have legislation that
in countries. allows parents to reduce their daily working
• An international non-governmental hours to take care of family commitments:
organization-World Women's Watch- since 1976, Finland has allowed parents of
should be set up to prepare country-by- children under age four-and Sweden par-
country reports on key aspects of legal ents of children under age ten-the right to
discrimination and on progress towards shorten their workday by two hours.
gender-related targets fixed by national FLEXIBLE WORK SCHEDULES. If workers
governments and international forums. It were to have the opportunity to stagger
could base its reports on information from their working hours, they would be in a bet-
national NGOs and mobilize pressure ter position to combine paid work with
groups and political lobbies in alliances for other responsibilities, such as child care.
change. Sweden already allows interim part-time
• Pools of legal professionals should be work, with the option to return to full-time
organized to offer legal advice for winning hours, so that women and men can combine
equality before the law. a career with family commitments. Ger-
• Legal literacy campaigns could be orga- many and Japan have devised "flextime"
nized to make women aware of their legal practices to enable their workers to com-
rights and to encourage more women to bine their family needs with production
study law through the generous provision schedules. And increasingly, employers are
of scholarships. allowing workers to work out of the home
• To facilitate women's access to legal or to bring their home to work (by provid-
systems, it may be desirable to set up legal ing child care at the workplace).
ombudswomen at national and global EXPANDING THE CONCEPT OF PUBLIC SERVICES.
levels. Some countries have expanded public ser-
• Violence against women as a weapon of vices beyond education and health to child
war should be declared a war crime, pun- care, including public day-care centres and
ishable by an international tribunal. school lunches. The private sector could
also provide such services, helping women
2. Many economic and institutional and men to pursue careers.
arrangements may need revamping to extend CHANGING TAX AND SOCIAL SECURITY IN-
more choices to women and men in the work- CENTIVES. Some countries have revised their
place. For example: tax and social security systems to
ENCOURAGING MEN TO PARTICIPATE IN FAMILY accommodate family structures different
CARE. In the 1980s, in most industrial coun- from the one-breadwinner, two-adult fam-

8 I lOMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 1995

ily norm. Sweden has separate taxation for difference in enabling women to gain more
part-time and full-time work to increase equitable access to economic and political
after-tax earnings for part-time work. In opportunities.
Zambia, an income tax amendment was Analysis of experience shows that in
introduced in 1987 allowing women to three critical areas-access to education,
claim child allowances and deductions on reproductive health and credit resources-
their insurance contributions-and remov- women face barriers that can be overcome
ing some tax discrimination against women. only through determined policy action. As
CHANGING LAWS ON PROPERTY. INHERITANCE long as these barriers persist, women will
AND DIVORCE. Once women are recognized as not have equal access to opportunities and
the main or equal "breadwinners" in most to the benefits of development.
families, a convincing basis exists for a more The returns from educating girls have
equitable sharing of rights in property, few parallels in any other type of social Access to
inheritance and divorce. The distribution of investment. There are measurable benefits productive
land during agrarian reform would require for women, for their families and for the
joint landholding, with women having equal community. If universal girls' enrolment is resources is critical
access to assets. Current restrictions on to be ensured at primary and secondary lev- to enhancing
women's collateral for bank loans would no els over the next 15 years; an additional women's choices
longer hold. investment of $5-6 billion a year is
These changes cannot all originate from required.
the state. Many will start from movements The International Conference on Pop-
in civil society. And some must come from ulation and Development in Cairo in
changes in the business community. September 1994 underlined the principle
"that advancing gender equality and equity
3. A criticaL 30% threshoLd shouLd be and the empowerment of women, and the
regarded as a minimum share of decision- elimination of all kinds of violence against
making positionsheld by women at the nationaL women, and ensuring women's ability to
LeveL. Few countries have reached or even control their own fertility, are cornerstones
approached this target, recommended in of population and development-related
1990 by the UN Commission on the Status programmes" .
of Women. In parliamentary or cabinet rep- Choice in the spacing and number of
resentation, only Denmark, Finland, the children has enabled women to control their
Netherlands, orway, Seychelles and life choices. It has meant control over how
Sweden have crossed the 30% threshold. their time is spent, released them from con-
Progress is somewhat better in administra- tinuous child-bearing and child-rearing and
tive and managerial positions (15 countries enabled them to participate more freely in
have crossed the 30% threshold) and in public life. But half a million women die
municipalities (8 countries). But most coun- every year from pregnancy-related causes,
tries are still far from this 30% threshold in and millions more are disabled. The Cairo
many of the key decision-making fields. conference estimated that attaining com-
The Report recommends that each prehensive coverage of family planning over
nation identify a firm timetable for crossing the next decade would require an additional
the 30% threshold in some key areas of investment of $5-6 billion a year. A similar
decision-making. The 30% threshold should amount would be required for reproductive
be regarded as a minimum target, not as the health services. The policy challenge is not
ultimate goal. But achieving this threshold only providing services. but ensuring that
would build considerable momentum for these policies and services enable women to
attaining complete equality. make free choices on their own.
Access to productive resources is critical
4. Key programmes shouLd embrace to enhancing women's economic choices.
universaL femaLe education, improved repro- For low-income women-the vast majority
ductive health and more credit for women. of women in the world-lack of access to
These programmes can make a decisive bank credit is a persistent barrier to attain-

nlE REVOLUTION rOR GENDrR EQUALIW 9

 ing economic independence and widening to encourage self-employment schemes,
choices. Experience in many countries microenterprises and opportunities for the
demonstrates that poor women invest poor to enter the market.
money wisely and make sound decisions to TARGETED PROGRAMMES FOR POVERTY REDUC-
maximize returns. The policy challenge is to TION. Poverty reduction requires an overall
support effective grass-roots credit schemes national strategy on many fronts. But it also
and intermediaries and to ensure that low- demands some targeted programmes and
income women have assured credit from affirmative action for the poorest groups-
the formal financial system. among them landless peasants, urban slum
dwellers, deprived ethnic minorities, eco-
5. National and international efforts nomically disenfranchised women.
should target programmes that enable people, CAPACITY BUILDING AND EMPOWERMENT.
The new world particularly women, to gain greater access to Considerable decentralized capacity will
order must put economic and political opportunities. Some have to be built in each country-in the
elements in such a package: public sector, in the private sector and
people-both BASIC SOCIAL SERVICES FOR ALL. As endorsed among grass-roots organizations-so that
women and men- by the Social Summit in Copenhagen, inter- disenfranchised groups can participate in
at the centre of all ested developing countries should move designing and implementing the new pro-
progressively towards earmarking at least jects and programmes.
development 20% of their budgets-and interested
processes donor nations 20% of their aid budgets- • • •
to human priority concerns, including basic
education, primary health care, safe drink- What vision should inspire gender relations
ing water, family planning services and in the 21st century? A new world order that
nutrition programmes for the most would embrace full equality of opportunity
deprived people. between women and men as a basic con-
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE. Although pri- cept. It would also eliminate the prevailing
mary health care and essential family plan- disparities between men and women and
ning services are already included in the create an enabling environment for the full
20:20 compact, they need to be supple- flowering of the productive and creative
mented by another $5-10 billion to ensure potential of both the sexes.
reproductive health care services. These This new world order would promote
additional sums should be priority items in more sharing of work and experience
the enlarged effort. between women and men in the workplace
CREDIT FOR POOR PEOPLE. As argued as well as in the household. It would respect
above, access to credit is one of the key ele- women as essential agents of change and
ments in empowering people and in development and open many more doors to
enabling them to participate in market women to participate more equally in eco-
opportunities. Since formal credit institu- nomic and political opportunities. And it
tions rarely lend to the poor, special institu- would value the work and contribution of
tional arrangements may become necessary women in all fields on par with those of
to extend credit to those who have no col- men, solely on merit, without making any
lateral to offer but their enterprise. distinction.
SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD FOR ALL Remu- The new world order would thus put
nerative employment opportunities are the people-both women and men--dearly at
key to the attack on poverty. But not all of the centre of all development processes.
them need to be in the formal, organized Only then can human development be-
sectors of the economy. What is essential is come fully engendered.

10 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 1995