Gender Equality

What is Gender equality? 

 Gender equality is when people of all genders have equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.There has been progress over the last decades: More girls are going to school, fewer girls are forced into early marriage, more women are serving in parliament and positions of leadership, and laws are being reformed to advance gender equality. 

Why do we need gender equality? 

We need gender equality as Gender equality prevents violence against women and girls. It’s essential for economic prosperity. Societies that value women and men as equal are safer and healthier. Gender equality is a human right. 

Vision and strategy for gender equality

vision for gender equality is

• live in a safe and equal society
• have equal access to power, resources and opportunities
• be treated with dignity, respect and fairness

Strategies for gender equality

• Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.
• Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women.
• Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.
• Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.

Covid 19 response

Women are not only the hardest hit by this pandemic, they are also the backbone of recovery in communities. Putting women and girls at the centre of economies will fundamentally drive better and more sustainable development outcomes for all, support a more rapid recovery, and place the world back on a footing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

 Every COVID-19 response plans, and every recovery package and budgeting of resources, needs to address the gender impacts of this pandemic . This means including women and women’s organisations in COVID-19 response planning and decision-making transforming the inequities of unpaid care work into a new, inclusive care economy that works for everyone; and designing socio-economic plans with an intentional focus on the lives and futures of women and girls. 

Gender equality for development

Gender equality for development is a core theme of  work and cuts across all thematic areas. We identify two areas of growth for the current  gender analytical agenda: design and test gender strategies in areas where gender-specific constraints have been identified; and build the evidence on gender-specific market failures in underserved areas of impact evaluation practice. The thematic coverage of the gender program seeks to fill the gaps in four areas identified in the 2012 World Development Report, “Gender Equality and Development”.