Gender equality and poverty
Gender equality and poverty
Posted: October 2005
The United Nations Population Fund this week released a report titled "State of the World Population 2005." The report concludes that a key to reducing extreme poverty around the world is to promote gender equality - women and men sharing the same rights and opportunities.
Lead author Maria Jose Alcala said, "If you invest in equality for women and young people and you insure that every poor woman and adolescent girl has access to reproductive health, you're going to put the world on a faster track for prosperity and development."
Alcala bases this idea on studies by the World Bank and others in the past decade, showing that societies that discriminate by gender tend to experience less rapid economic growth and poverty reduction than societies that treat males and females more equally.
According to Alcala, from 1965 to 1990, countries known as the Asian Tigers -- including Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore -- had rapid economic growth. International experts attribute part of this growth to policies that encouraged more girls to go to school -- increased access to family planning -- and opened up more job opportunities for women.
Alcala said, "Progress for women is essentially progress for all."
posted by arcticnurse at 06:03
2 Comments:
I agree. I'm a man, and I can't stand most men. My best friends are women. Men in Indian country have a tendency to be mysoginists. I'm in the beginning stages of reading "Backlash," by Susan Faludi. Though written over a decade ago, the information is still valid.
Thanks eugene, for your post.
After going thru a painful divorce, I am at about the same place...danged if I do...
I will look into susan Flaudi's book. It sounds intriguing.
And for you, read Leonard Slain's book "The Alphabet vs. The Goddess" He sets forth the theory that the advent of the written word (left brain,hunter/killer,male) was the downfall of the goddess/women and does a fascinating comparison of cultures throughout history;postulates on the subjugation of women(right brain, nurturer gatherer/female)including the awful catholic and witch hunt periods. I just finished it and it was sad and scary.
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