JOIN USThe annual world development reports of the World Bank are reminders of the need for more active and sustained efforts to be made by developing countries to achieve the social and economic goals achieved by the developed world. This year’s report, which focuses on gender equality and development, released last week, also presents a picture of slow and uneven progress made by the poorer countries in removing gender discrimination and delivering justice in all aspects of life, like health, education and employment opportunities. The report is not a document of unrelieved gloom; it has recorded progress in some areas related to women’s development in many countries. But it underlines the difficulties in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in the next four years and starkly poses the challenge to improve the women’s condition.
India fares badly on most indicators, compared to many other countries in the poorest strata. It accounts for about 22 per cent of the world’s missing women – the female population lost due to infanticide and childhood deaths of girls. The high female and maternal mortality figures are as discomforting as in the past. The report has noted that despite stellar economic growth, maternal mortality rates in India are six times those in Sri Lanka. The difference in female literacy between the two countries is the main reason.
Women may be doing better now than ever before but the progress is below par.
Economic opportunities are fewer for women than for men. Female labour participation has not gone beyond 35 per cent in the last 25 years. Unequal wages and denial of equal economic opportunities continue and women do not have the right environment to secure their rights. One bright spot is that the gender gap is narrowing in the case of primary education. This will take a long time to have an impact on female literacy levels.
The high drop-out levels of girls at higher levels of schooling push down their educational levels, compared to boys.
The report calls for changes in strategies by all underachieving countries to improve the status and conditions of girls and women. The conclusions of the report are not actually new; only the findings and figures have changed over the years. They should be taken seriously, because there cannot be real social and economic progress without full participation by women.