Yesterday’s energy around International Women’s Day 2012 was impressive.
Twitter was abuzz with videos and factoids demonstrating the importance of investing in women to address cycles of crushing poverty in the developing world. CARE’s Top 10 Myths About Women offers a historical view of the strong women that paved the way for others in their community and around the world, USAID’s infographic provides a factoid-oriented view of women globally and of course there was the Google Doodle. Two of my favorites were an editorial from the Washington Area Women’s Foundation and this piece on the importance of education. Even Tony Blair is in the mix with his Huffington Post column (Cherie Blair’s Foundation for Women focuses on helping create business opportunities for women worldwide).
In addition to promoting the infographic, USAID published a new policy report on gender equality and female empowerment. Although it’s a bit of a dry read (what policy paper isn’t), what makes it interesting is its message that female empowerment is now a horizontal initiative – meaning that it factors into all aspects of development – with the option to invest in standalone “vertical” projects that are perceived as key to addressing the overall goals of equality and empowerment (p12). The three outcomes USAID seeks to achieve are:
1. Reduce gender disparities in access to, control over and benefit from resources, wealth, opportunities, and services – economic, social, political and cultural
2. Reduce gender-based violence and mitigate its harmful effects on individuals and communities, so that all people can live healthy and productive lives.
3. Increase capability of women and girls to realize their rights, determine their life outcomes, and influence decision-making in households, communities and societies.
But surprisingly there is NOT ONE mention of the Millennium Development Goals in the agency’s report. Nor did yesterday’s formal remarks by UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachalet include mention of the MDGs. These are the goals that were established during the World Millennium Summit in 2000 and have ostensibly informed a majority of aide and development strategies. Number three of the eight ( MDG3) focuses specifically on gender equality. Although not expected to fully deliver on the goals by 2015, there has been progress in most parts of the world. For example, according to the 2011 Progress Report almost all regions are getting closer to gender parity in elementary education (Oceania is the only area to lose ground since 1999). Though parity in secondary and tertiary education remains a challenge, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Progress has also been made in employment, though the non-agricultural sector has not recovered from the global recession at the same pace for women as men.
I would expect someone would take the opportunity to highlight the best stories from the MDG3 effort during yesterday’s festivities. Even the MDG-specific information remained relatively buried. For example, if you go to the UN Women site, the MDG information is actually three clicks away.
I’m curious about the seeming lack of connectivity between MDG3 and yesterday’s celebration of International Women’s Day. Any insight would be welcome.