Women, Girls and Goals
Madeline Craig
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| Photo Courtesy of Matt Miller |
Introduction
- Target 3.1- ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary, and tertiary education
- Target 3.2- share of women in wage employment in non-agricultural sector
- Target 3.3- proportion of seats held by women in national parliament
Dai Manju, a thirteen-year-old girl
from the Dabie Mountains in Central China attended school as a young girl but
was forced to drop out before she entered secondary school. She lived with her mother, father, two
brothers, and a great aunt in a small shack about two hours from the nearest
road. They owned very little
possessions and had no access to amenities such as running water and
electricity. Because of their
location walking was the main form of transportation, and the only way to get
to school. Once she
entered the sixth grade school fees were too much to afford, and her parents
told her that since she was the oldest she must drop out of school and help
with household duties. All of the
adults in the house were barely literate, which means that this was an
intergenerational struggle for Dai and her family. Dai Manju was the top student in her class and dreamed of
being the first in her family to graduate from elementary school, but she was
not able to afford paper, pencils or books in order to continue her education
and her family saw other uses for her time and their money (Half the Sky 167-169). Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas Kristof
revealed Dai Maju’s story to the press after meeting her and hearing her story.
They were able to raise money for her cause and send her and many
other girls in the village back to school. After to returning to school she eventually earned an
accounting degree. When she found
work she became the main breadwinner for her family, greatly increasing the
household income. Now the family has access to resources they were lacking
before and are thriving in their home and community. Despite the success of Dai Manju we must consider what it is
like for many other girls in the world who were born into very similar
circumstances, but did not have the fortune of meeting two successful
journalists who had the means to help them succeed.
This narrative represents the
reality for millions of women and girls around the globe. The lack of access to education and
other resources, along with violence, subordination, and discrimination prevent
women and girls from reaching their full potential and hinders economic and
social growth and development.
Goal 3 of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) is an attempt by the
United Nations to alleviate some of the problems and inequalities that women
face throughout the world.
Goal 3 of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) focuses on Gender Equity and Women’s Empowerment. There is one main target and three
indicators that measure whether the target is on track. Target 3.A is “eliminate gender
disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all
levels of education no later than 2015” (United Nations, 2010).
Historical Development
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) first convened in 1947 soon after the United Nations was created. They became connected to the United Nations (UN) through the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), which lead to further relationships with NGOs and ECOSOC (UN Economic and Social Council). In 1953 the CSW met to draft the Convention on the Political Rights of Women, which became the first international attempt to recognize and protect women’s political rights (UN Women). Each year CSW comes up with specific goals, or “priority themes”, which consist of recommendations for governments and other local and international institutions. Many of these goals include themes like violence, education, access to equal resources, and empowerment. Despite this effort, there seemed to be little global effort to design and implement these strategies. This Commission soon became a part of a larger body of the United Nations called UN Women, which was created in 2011.
The first major World Summit that
highlighted the issues of gender equity was the International Conference on
Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994. This conference decided on a
Programme of Action signed by 179 governments, and women’s empowerment was a
major theme. The document stated,
“A women’s ability to access reproductive health and rights is cornerstone of
her empowerment. It is also the
key to sustainable development” (UNFPA).
According to David Hulme’s A Short
History of the World’s Biggest Problems, despite the efforts to get gender
equality on the international agenda, there was much hesitation and heated debates
due to the views of conservatives who were opposed to the discussion’s focus on
family planning. They were
concerned with the ideas about abortion, therefore eliminating much effort and
progress towards new age and progressive thinking related to the status of
women. These debates resurfaced
later on during the drafting of the MDGs (Hulme 2009, 10).
The UN Fourth World Conference on
Education and Gender in Beijing in 1995 followed the Cairo Summit. This conference was preceded by three
others held in Mexico in 1975, Copenhagen in 1980 and Nairobi in 1985. This event received much support by
women’s empowerment advocacy groups and related NGOs, and there was a large
focus on women’s rights and their role in society. As Hulme observes, “The energy and drive released at the
conference, however, was not reflected by its ultimate impact on global
targeting exercises” (Hulme 2009, 11).
Although there was very little action taken by the international
community, the Conference devised a Platform for Action. Its mission statement reads, “The
principle of shared power and responsibility should be established between men
and women at home, in the workplace, and in the wider national and
international communities” (Platform for Action 1995). The mission clearly recognizes the need
for a holistic approach if any effective change is to be made. We can see the many dimensions of the
problem through the twelve strategic objectives and actions that were decided
upon. The objectives recognize the
different dimensions of gender inequality including, women and poverty,
education and training of women, violence against women, women and armed
conflict, women and the economy, women in power and decision-making,
institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, human rights of women,
women and the media, women and the environment, and the girl-child. These factors make up a much more comprehensive set of priorities
than the MDGs cover. This is the direction
these conferences seemed to be heading in: excitement and energy with very little outcome.
Next on the international agenda
was the International Development Goals, which were decided in April 1996. This was the final precursor to the
creation of the MDGs, but sadly, they did little to please the women’s
movement. The goal was added last
minute by an all-male committee who clearly did not have these issues on the
top of their agenda. This process
gives us a glimpse of the politics involved in international
decision-making. The goal that was
decided mostly focused on women and the educational sector, which was not
conducive to the multi-dimensional problem and the holistic discussions that
had taken place previously. Hulme
refers to this process as the “political horse-trading involved in watering
down the gender content of the agreement”(Hulme 2009, 17).
Finally, The Millennium Development
Goals were created using the basis of the IDGs as a kickoff. Once again, the powerful conservative
voices like the Vatican, conservative Islamic states, and anti-abortion
Christian groups pushed the issues of maternal mortality and women’s
empowerment to the side.
Thankfully, the World Bank, World Health Organization, UNICEF, and a
very energetic women’s movement were able to gain support in order to get the
gender equity goal added. Since
major decision makers had already watered down the vision of gender equality
the MDGs also gave little attention to the issue. The current targets are focused only on women and education,
in the workplace, and in politics.
Of the twelve important factors determined at the Beijing Conference
only a few of them were included in the MDGs. Clearly, Goal 3 was added as a last minute effort and which
failed to achieve a comprehensive, holistic approach to tackling the problem of
gender inequality.
Current Status
Overall, the world is
not on track to achieve all of the targets. So far, we have achieved equality in primary education, but
only two out of 130 countries have achieved the target at all levels of
education.
Target 1
Primary education is
important, but secondary and tertiary education must follow if women are to
truly gain power and a strong voice in society. Therefore, we must consider the main obstacles for girls who
do not have the same opportunity to receive a secondary education. The most crippling obstacle for women
and girls is almost always poverty.
For girls like Dai Manju, their families’ financial situation is the
reason that they are taken out of school or never enter in the first
place. We see a trend that the
most marginalized populations are the ones that experience the most
inequalities and lack of opportunity.
According to the Global Poverty Project women represent 70% of the
world’s poor, and this is not a coincidence that they also experience very
extreme inequality. We see the
least progress in Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and West Asia for primary
education. Many girls are pulled
out of school because their families need them to help support the family. Family responsibilities become a full
time job and soon education is only a dream that fades as she grows older. In some cases these responsibilities
include fetching clean water, which involves walking miles every day to find a
clean water source. In other
cases, women or girls are sold to traffickers who sell them as sex workers and
they are forced into prostitution.
Kristof and WuDunn estimate that there are about three million women and
girls who are enslaved in the sex trade, and they consider this a very low
estimate because it does not include people who are manipulated into
prostitution, or girls under eighteen who are not old enough to consent to work
in brothels (Kristof & WuDunn 2009, 9). When girls are subject to these types of exploitation they
are sacrificing both their health and safety. These are just a couple examples of what happens to girls
when school is no longer an option.
In addition to the implications on secondary education, we can see that
countries with low enrollment rates have the most extreme disparities in
tertiary education. Women and
girls in the poorest communities are clearly not getting the access to the
education they need to survive.
But why girls? Why do families take their daughters out of school rather
than their sons? This is the
effect of traditional standards and stereotypes that hinder women from reaching
their full potential.
Target 3
In most
places around the world, even in the most developed countries, women follow
strict gender norms that structure women’s contributions to society within the
frameworks of childcare and household duties. Even if women have a job and a professional life they are
still expected to fulfill these roles.
So, when it comes time to decide which children are going to be invested
in at school and which children will work at home the boys are the ones who
stay at school. In terms of the status
on women in wage employment only 40% of jobs in the non-agricultural sector
were held by women in 2011. The
reality is even worse for women in West Asia, South Africa, and North Asia with
only 20% of the non-agricultural jobs help by women (MDG Report 2013). In every developing region women hold
less secure jobs with fewer social benefits. Many women are involved in the informal economy and although
it provides an income there is generally very low pay and lack of social
protection, which makes women more vulnerable and open to exploitation in the
workplace (Global Poverty Project).
This shows us that just increasing income-earning opportunities does not
directly lead to more secure and decent jobs. We can make jobs available for women, but unless we provide
equal treatment, wages, and rights there will still be a gap. Additionally,
according to the 2013 MDG Report, 50% of women reported having opportunities to
participate in decisions on large household purchases. Many women do not have control over
resources like income and asset ownership. This is all determined by laws and norms related to property
ownership and inheritance that tend to be very patriarchal and discriminate
against women. The 2013 MDG Report
also illustrated that, “As women benefit from more regular income, the are more
likely to achieve greater autonomy, self-reliance in the household and in their
personal development, and decision-making power” (MDG Report 2013, 20). To provide an overview of women’s
status in the workforce, women work two thirds of the world’s working hours and
produce half of the world’s food, but earn only 10% of the world’s income and
own less than 1% of the world’s property.
In addition, on average women earn half of what mean earn in wages
(Global Poverty Project). These
staggering statistics provide a horrific view of the realities that women
around the world face today. When
women have more opportunities to enter non-agricultural work they gain more
independence and more power in decision-making and asset control.
Target 3
The last indicator focuses on women
who hold seats in parliament and roles in government. This indicator is also off track to be
achieved by 2015 . The reality is,
women held only 20.4% seats in Parliament in 2013 (MDG Report 2013). This number has increased, but it is
still very low. Some countries
have made progress but many struggle to achieve this goal. The Arab States and Pacific have the
worst representation, with only 16% of seats in parliament held by women. Interestingly, Rwanda, a country that
recently experienced genocide and extreme political unrest has managed to
attain the best ratio of women in Parliament. In Rwanda 57% of the seats in Parliament are held by
women. There are three key factors
that helped them achieve this goal, which are constitutional guarantee, a quota
system, and an innovated electoral structure (Powley 2005). After independence the creation new
constitution was set up to be participatory, allowing for input women and
women’s organizations which lead to a strong commitment in the new constitution
to gender equality. In addition,
in order to fill a quota, seats were reserved in parliament for women, making
it impossible for men to dominate.
Lastly, the women’s council that was created played a very integral role
in decision-making, which leads to a decentralized and grass roots engagement
in politics. As
evidence that this system is working for Rwanda the United Nations Development
Programme reports, “though still widespread, poverty
rates in Rwanda have dropped 12 percent over the past five years. Furthermore,
18 years after the 1994 genocide, the country has made huge strides towards
achieving the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in the area of women’s
rights” (UNDP). It is
important to include women in parliament because they represent the voice of
50% of our population and without that voice present then it is impossible to
achieve full equality.
Along with the struggles of the
global community to reach these goals, there are very clear regional
disparities that are present. The
region with the worst numbers and the worst progress is Sub-Saharan
Africa. This region also shows
many disparities in much of the other goals. This is because Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the poorest
places in the world. The World
Bank tells us that 50% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa is classified as
poor. The least marginalized
places have the hardest time with development and without gender equity
development can never fully be achieved and. Two other regions that show major disparities in gender equality
are West Asia and South Asia.
There is a lot of work to be done
in all areas of women’s empowerment, and Goal 3 does will not reach its targets
by 2015. What needs to be done in
order to improve the global status of women? We must improve enrollment rates in secondary
education. Primary education is
only fully useful if girls are able to move on to secondary education and use
their knowledge to be successful and play an important role in society. Women must have a stronger role in government
as well. How do we expect to
implement laws and policies to give women more rights if there are no women who
have power? One effective method
for achieving this goal is by following Rwanda’s example and use a quota
system, while also legitimizing the power that women hold in the government
once they get there. It is also
important to note that just filling a quota for women in government positions
is not sufficient enough. They must be accepted as powerful leaders and have a
legitimate voice in politics if they wish to achieve anything. And lastly, women in wage employment
are lacking resources and opportunities to gain equality. We need to see a larger amount of women
in the non-agricultural sector, but also focusing more on giving these women
equal treatment and benefits.
These targets are very easy to measure in terms of quantity but there
needs to be more focus on the quality of a woman’s life in terms of these
aspects, and others. Although these targets will not be reached by 2015 that
does not mean that development should stop. As Stephen Lewis writes, “societies that discriminate on the basis of gender
pay the cost of greater poverty, slower economic growth, weaker governance, and
a lower living standard of their people. It is crucial to address women's
poverty and inequality because of the potential role women can play in turning
poverty on its head” (Global Poverty Project). This is an
opportunity to reevaluate the goals and targets and come up with a more
comprehensive set of goals that covers more topics and that proves more
successful in alleviating the gender inequalities that prevent many other types
of development from achieving full success.
Successes and
Challenges
An equal ratio of boys to girls in primary education has been achieved globally, but secondary and tertiary education is lagging behind. It is also important to note that even though the goal has been reached as a global average it does not mean that every country or region has reached it. Success stories are hard to come by, but we have seen significant improvement in places like Rwanda that take the initiative to change the system and make it more accessible to both men and women. Lastly, there have been significant improvements for women in non-agricultural wage employment including, East Asia, The Caucuses, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
A major challenge of Goal 3 is that
it fails to recognize many other very important aspects of gender inequality
that create barriers for women.
Two of these major missing pieces are violence against women and women’s
sexual health and reproductive rights.
It is very evident that these discrepancies are the result of a
last-minute effort to throw a gender equity goal together with little time to
create a complete set of targets.
Sophie Harman describes the
framework of Goal 3 as “too little, too late, too gendered” (Harman 2012,
84). MDG 3 is “too gendered”
because it fails to spotlight other major issues with gender inequality such as
gender-based violence and the opportunity for women to decide their own sexual
destiny. The goal is “too late”
because many of the policies and projects did not start until 2009 and 2010, so
there was not enough time to complete them by 2015. In addition, UN Women, an essential part of the UN, was
created very recently, in 2011, which does not provide much achieve success in
many programs before 2015.
The goal is “too gendered” because
many policies to help women end up reinforcing the gender norms, mostly women’s
relation to the family. In many
policies women are only seen as a part of the family, which blocks access to
resources for women who do not have a family of their own. This is not to say that women are not
important in a family structure, but we must recognize that women can also play
a large role in society outside of the family. It may sound counterintuitive to describe a gender goal as
“too gendered”, but Harmen challenges us to keep in mind that women are just as
important outside of the family as they are mothers and caretakers. We must increase men’s role in the
family and increase the women’s role outside of the family. For the most part, men and boys are
absent from the discussion about women’s empowerment, and this needs to change. The intrinsic gender norms that are
present in many places and especially in many development strategies is that
women’s primary role is a mother and a caretaker. For example, the Millennium Development Goals make women’s
health only important for the role of child bearing and rearing. The only way to achieve a complete
human rights approach is to accept that women are autonomous individuals who
deserve these rights and programs even if they are not tied to a family.
Another challenge is that UNIFEM, UN Women, and other
organizations have not seen much financial, political, and institutional
support. They have little
representation at meetings, which restricts their ability to raise the voice of
women within the UN and other member states. UN Women has an annual budget of about $176 million (United
Nations 2013), while the World Bank spends $30 billion per year in development
assistance alone (Bank Information Center). This provides an outline of the power differences within the
United Nations. UN Women must
connect with other organizations and gain more power in order to be a part of
major decisions within the UN. The
issues of gender equality must be recognized as not just women’s issues, but
also imperative to the success of the rest of the MDGs. So far, it has not been seen as a major
player but without gender equality it is very difficult to develop in other
areas. Koffi Annan, the former UN
Secretary General reminds us that:
“There is no tool for
development more effective than the empowerment of women. No other policy is as
likely to raise economic productivity, or to reduce infant and maternal
mortality. No other policy is as sure to improve nutrition and promote health -
including the prevention of HIV/AIDS. No other policy is as powerful in
increasing the chances of education for the next generation. And I would also
venture that no policy is more important in preventing conflict, or in
achieving reconciliation after a conflict has ended” (Global Poverty Project).
Economic growth will never reach its fullest potential until
all cease to discriminate against half of our world’s population and begin to
accept women as essential contributors to society.
Lastly, Harman describes the
concept of “vogue goal-setting” which refers to the idea that global issues are
put on the forefront based on what the most powerful institutions prefer to
focus on. Because organizations
like UN Women do not have the money or power to spread their ideas and concerns
the issue of gender inequality is currently not “in style”. They are competing against
organizations like the World Bank, which gets to decide where money goes
because of their large funding portfolio.
By prioritizing certain strategies larger, more powerful institutions
are able to make certain issues more popular than others, whether they are the
most important or not (Harman 94).
Ideally, women’s empowerment and gender equity should be at the
forefront of international development policies because it is so essential to
the success of other areas of development.
What if the United States were an MDG Country?
Although the United States is very developed and very wealthy, it has still not achieved complete equality. With a ranking on the Human Development Index of 23, there are still many countries above the United States who are not necessarily as economically wealthy, but they have more success with social programs and high equality ratings. The United States has reached the target of gender equity in all levels of education. In fact, women have better enrollment rates for girls. In terms of employment, 48% of women are working in the non-agricultural sector, according to the World Bank. There are still problems with the quality of work for women compared to men. Women still do not make as much money as men in general, and many women struggle with finding time to leave and have children while still keeping a job. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, on average, women are paid 77 cents for every dollar that men are paid. The United States is also one of very few countries that does not have government-guaranteed paid leave programs for pregnant women. We also see major disparities in women involved in government. Only 18% of our government positions are help by women, and similarly, women hold only 27% of ministerial positions. Another thing to consider is that the United Stated has never had a female president. Our government body is very strongly dominated by men. Lastly, women in the United States are victims of many types of gender-based and sexual violence. More than 600 women per day are raped or sexually assaulted in the US and 48 million women per year experience rape or domestic violence by an intimate partner. It is impossible to conclude that the US is making progress with gender equality when million of its women are victims of these types of violence. If the United States were considered an MDG country we would need to make some changes in order to keep up with other developed countries with higher equality and better social programs.
Where do we need to go from here?
Education is the most important and most effective way to provide equal rights to women (Kristof &WuDunn 2009), so increasing the enrollment rates for secondary and tertiary education is critically important. Education gives women more autonomy and more power in society in order to fulfill their greatest potential. The Global Poverty Project summarizes that educated girls have fewer children, which reduces fertility rates, they are better able to care for their children which increases child mortality rates and they have better access health care and information. Educated girls practice safer sex, which protects against HIV/AIDS infection; they have better access to jobs, and are more likely to send their children to school, which creates intergenerational benefits. All of these benefits not only allow women to succeed, but they also help move the other goals towards success. Education is also important in other ways. Educating women about their human rights and also about sexual violence can help prevent them from being exploited. Other things like education about avoiding early marriage is also important so that girls and their families recognize that they are more likely to finish their education and increase their sexual health and rights if they wait to get married. In addition, educating men is very important so that they are aware of the negative effects of gender inequality both socially and economically, along with ways they can contribute to the problem. It is important to involve men in the discussion about gender inequality because it is not just a women’s issue, men are part of the cause and also the solution to this global problem.
Many women also struggle with
controlling their own sexuality in the sense that they do not get very much say
in when they will have children, and how many they will have, or if they will
have children at all. The UNFPA
concludes that, “girls and women’s social participation is fortified when they
can determine the number, timing, and spacing of their children. The inability to do so undermines other
rights”. In many developing
countries, women are not given these choices. Women’s sexuality should not be up for debate; women are in
charge of their own bodies, and only they should decide their reproductive
destiny.
Logistically, there
must be more country, political, organizational, and financial connections and
support for UN Women and other similar organizations (Harman 2012, 96). UN Women must have more say in other
development decisions as well because gender inequality is seen on all levels
of development, and since other development issues cannot be fixed without
gender equality, organizations within the UN must collaborate to create a
multidimensional approach. Using a
system of quotas to get more women involved in politics is also a very
effective tool. It is important to
keep in mind that ensuring legitimate power for these women while in parliament
is just as important. Another
program that has tremendously abated the struggles that women face are
microcredit loans. In these
programs women are given loans to start a business or build a house or send
their children to school, etc.
These loans give women more control over the family income and therefore
can make decision that will benefit their families and themselves in the long
run (Global Poverty Project).
There must also be a larger focus
on a more holistic approach to achieving gender equality, with many different
aspects of women’s empowerment included.
What truly needs to change on a more abstract level are the gender norms
and unequal treatment that are associated with women’s inequality. Gender equality is more than just
reaching a set of goals, it requires the reversal of deep-rooted, socialized,
and ingrained cultural norms and discriminations that allow society to consider
women second-class citizens.
Conclusion
Data and statistics aside, we must consider the main goals of international development, and never stray from the initial intentions. There are clear inequalities present in the world today and in order to provide equal opportunity for everyone we must eliminate human suffering and provide human rights for all. Women are not going to be seen and treated as equal to men if they are not able to make the same decisions as men, if they experience more gender-based violence, and if they are not seen as autonomous and free from family norms. If we look at Goal 3 specifically, our overarching goal and driving force should be making women’s lives better and more fulfilling. Although Goal 3 is a good stepping-stone towards women’s empowerment, the world must consider a more collaborative and comprehensive effort. This can be achieved by considering all aspects of gender inequality using a holistic approach that considers all forms of women’s suffering in a complete set of goals and targets. Women have not benefitted from these goals if they have not achieved a higher standard of living on an individual, human level. Dai Manju from China is just one example of a girl who grew up with little very little opportunities and resources to live a fulfilling life, but we saw how she was able to succeed through education. If we can give other girls the same support that Dai Manju received, along with a change in perspective on how we view women and their place in society, then the world has a chance at achieving gender equality.
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