Ipas > International Women’s Day: A time to take stock

International Women’s Day: A time to take stock

March 6, 2006

Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women. But when girls and women receive even the most basic education, their literacy sets off ripple effects in their families and communities.

Photo courtesy of Amy Vitale, Panos Pictures.

March 8 is International Women’s Day, an occasion to mark the achievements and vast potential of the world’s 3 billion women.

Countries from Australia to Yemen will celebrate the theme “Women in Decision-making” for International Women’s Day 2006.

The observance invites us to consider the status of women across the borders of geography, language, ethnicity, class and opportunity. Here are some indicators that show just how far women have progressed — and just how far we have to go to ensure global gender equality.

Women in politics
Women continue to attain political office or positions of influence — particularly in the developing world. Statistics compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union show that Rwanda leads the world in percentage of women in national parliaments with 48.8 percent. Much of the gains across the world have come after implementation of laws requiring that women make up certain percentages of law-making bodies. The United States falls far below Rwanda, coming in at No. 69; in the U.S. Senate, 14 of 100 senators are women.

In 2005, two countries added women heads of state: Chile and Liberia. In her inaugural address, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said she’s committed to addressing rape, a war crime and human-rights violation that continues to be widespread even after the end of the West African nation’s long civil war.

But even as women break through the political glass ceilings in their home countries, no woman has led the United Nations as Secretary-General.

Women and health
In the United States, women may be poised to determine future standards in gynecological and obstetric care; according to the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Women in Medicine Program, more than 74 percent of all U.S. ob-gyn residents were women in 2004 — up from 56 percent just a decade earlier.

But despite international agreements that say access to health care is an essential human right, women’s reproductive health often receives short shrift around the world. Each year, more than 500,000 die from pregnancy-related causes, 70,000 from unsafe abortion alone. Most of these fatalities happen in the developing world, where trained health-care professionals and up-to-date equipment are in short supply.

Even in the United States, women and children swell the ranks of the uninsured.

Women and work
Though women’s labor fuels worldwide food production and the entire global economy, few of the world’s top businesses are headed by females. According to 2002 data from Catalyst, a research organization that focuses on women’s representation in business, only six Fortune 500 companies had a woman CEO — while 46 percent of the U.S. work force is female.

Women and education
In the United States, there are now more women enrolling in college than men. But when it comes to education globally, women and girls are often the last to go to school and the first to drop out when family circumstances change. According to the United Nations (which declared the period 2003-2012 the Literacy Decade), two-thirds of the estimated 860 million low-literacy adults in the world are women.

Educating girls is not only important to their futures; it means better futures for their families and communities. Research shows that as women’s educational levels increase, they have fewer — and healthier — children. When women understand the written word, they can exercise more control over their fertility and better interpret health information. And their children are more likely to stay in school longer. These links are so important that they are included in the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals.

Women who are healthy, literate and able to speak freely can define and defend their rights. Quality health care, literacy and fuller participation in political processes are essential ingredients in the recipe for a better world.

For more information, contact:
Kirsten Sherk
Senior Associate, Media Relations
e-mail: sherkk@ipas.org
phone: 919.960.5612
fax: 919.929.0258