Gender / Empowerment and Status of Women

| Key statistics | Key links |

       

"We also resolve:

  • To promote gender equality and the empowerment of women as effective ways to combat poverty, hunger and disease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable (...)"

Extract from the United Nations Millennium Summit Declaration (September 2000).

 

Key statistics

  • In the developing world, women manage 50 to 80 % of food production, processing and marketing, and run 70 % of small enterprises.
  • By age 18, girls have received an average of 4.4 years less education than boys.
  • At least one in three girls and women worldwide has been beaten or sexually abused in her lifetime.
  • Every year, two million girls and women are subjected to female genital mutilation.

 

Key links

  • DevLink website - Gender topic

    For more information on DevLink, click here.
    In this section of DevLink, you can find some experience and guidance from within the UN system and elsewhere on addressing gender issues. Key documents are presented, including core UNDG approved documents. A selection of examples and experiences of the UN's work can be found in the Best Practices section. Information on Theme Groups, UN Country websites and training materials and events can be found under Resources. UNDG Links contains hyperlinks to specific pages on UNDG members' websites and connects to UN Country Team sites that contain information on gender. Similar information from other sources outside the UNDG can be reached by selecting Other Links.


  • United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) website

    UNIFEM promotes women's empowerment and gender equality. It works to ensure the participation of women in all levels of development planning and practice, and acts as a catalyst within the UN system, supporting efforts that link the needs and concerns of women to all critical issues on the national, regional and global agendas. UNIFEM focuses its work at the country level within the context of the United Nations Resident Coordinator System. Playing a strong advocacy role, the Fund concentrates on fostering a multilateral policy dialogue on women's empowerment.


  • UNDP Gender in Development Programme website

    The Gender in Development Programme (GIDP) advises, supports and facilitates UNDP gender equality policy, dialogue and practice, and promotes the empowerment of women. It provides guidance on gender policy and programmes, advancing gender as a crosscutting theme in poverty, sustainable livelihoods, environment and governance programmes. It also furthers UNDP Bureau for Development Policy mandate to support innovation through pilot country initiatives on gender mainstreaming.


  • BRIDGE

    BRIDGE supports gender mainstreaming efforts by bridging the gaps between theory, policy and practice with accessible gender information. It has reports on gender and a host of issues (conflicts, emergencies, health, economics, etc.); a bulletin; papers and publications; and links.


  • Siyanda

    Siyanda is a database of gender information and materials. It is organized in broad categories and types of material to make searching easier. Each document is summarized, and key documents have a long summary including findings and recommendations for implementation.


  • GENIE (Gender Information Exchange)

    This site provides links to and information about a huge range of gender mainstreaming resources produced or funded by donor agencies. A model for bilateral and multilateral donor coordination and networking, it combines the resources of 16 bilaterals (DfID, USAID, GTZ, etc) and 26 multilaterals (UNICEF, WHO, UNDP, etc.).


  • UNDP Gender Beat

    Gender Beat is a periodic e-mail bulletin about UNDP and UN-system gender goings-on, people, events, and resources. To subscribe, send e-mail to gidp@undp.org.


  • UNFPA "State of World Population 2002" on line report

    Gender inequality and its socio-economic repercussions are key elements in this report, which also provides very comprehensive data.


  • UNIDO Women Entrepreneurship Development

    UNIDO can help with its experience in the formulation and implementation of gender-sensitive integrated national programmes that will build and strengthen the capacity and capabilities of decision makers in Government, the private sector, and SME-related support institutions.


  • United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)

    INSTRAW is an autonomous body of the United Nations established in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations with a unique mandate to serve as a vehicle to promote and undertake policy-oriented research and training programmes at the international level to contribute to the advancement of women worldwide.


  • WomenWatch

    It is a joint UN project to create a core Internet space on global women's issues. It was created to monitor the results of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995. It was founded in 1997 by the Division for the Advancement of Women, UNIFEM and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).

 

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