WUNRN
THE WORLD’S WOMEN 2015: TRENDS & STATISTICS - REPORT
Direct Link to Full 260-Page Report: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/downloads/report.pdf
Women Worldwide Live Longer, Healthier Lives with Better
Education – UN Report
Women farmers plow their fields in preparation to plant
corn in Gnoungouya Village, Guinea on June 15, 2015. Many farmers were highly
affected by the Ebola outbreak and are slowly beginning to return to their
fields to work. Photo: World Bank/Dominic Chavez
20 October 2015 – The lives of women and girls around the
world have improved in several areas over the last 20 years but they continue
to be victims of gender based discrimination
and violence, according to a new report launched today by the United Nations.
Coming on the heels of the recently adopted Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), The World’s
Women 2015 report brings into sharp perspective the need for gender
equality outlined in Goal 5,
which aims to empower all women and girls by 2030.
“We cannot achieve our 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, without full and equal rights for half of
the world’s population, in law and in practice,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a recent event
on gender equality organized on the margins of the Sustainable Development
Summit.
According to the report, prepared by the Statistics
Division of the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs, women live
longer lives, benefit from a better access to education and are more
independent.
Life expectancy has continued to rise, reportedly
reaching 72 years for women and 68 for men, globally. Worldwide, the number of
maternal deaths declined by 45 per cent between 1990 and 2013. Although they
continue to marry a few years earlier than men, women’s age at marriage has
also increased, reflecting higher education levels, later entry into the labour
force, as well as increased economic independence.
Meanwhile, enrolment of children in primary education is
nearly universal today. The gender gap has narrowed and once they have enrolled
in school, the report finds that girls perform better than boys through primary
education in two thirds of countries.
However in some developing nations the disparities
against girls are stark. The UN estimates that today, 58 million children of
primary school age are out of school worldwide. More than half of them are
girls and nearly three quarters live in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.
Although the vast majority of the world’s youth is currently literate, nearly
two thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women, a proportion unchanged for
the last 20 years.
“Far too many women and girls continue to be
discriminated against, subjected to violence, denied equal opportunities in
education and employment, and excluded from positions of leadership and
decision-making,” underscored Mr. Ban.
Indeed, the study finds that over one third of women
worldwide have been a victim of physical and/or sexual violence at some point
in their lives. Attitudes towards violence are reportedly beginning to change
as both men and women see violence against women less acceptable – but 60 per
cent of all women victims of violence still do not report it or seek any help.
Turning to the issue of child marriage, despite remaining
a critical issue in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the occurrence has
declined from 31 per cent in 1995 to 26 per cent in 2010.
Regarding employment, estimates reveal that only 50 per
cent of women of working age are in the labour force, compared to 77 per cent
of men. Women are found to remain concentrated in low paid jobs and earn on
average between 70 and 90 per cent of what men earn.
Furthermore, women spend on average three hours more per
day than men on household chores and caring for family members in developing
countries and two hours more per day than men in developed countries. As a
result of the gender division of paid and unpaid work, in many countries, women
continue to be economically dependent on their spouses.
Meanwhile, women’s economic vulnerability becomes even
more visible among lone mothers with children. One-parent household are
increasingly common globally, both in developing and developed countries as a
result of increased extramarital fertility and divorce. Lone mothers with
children constitute about 75 per cent of all one-parent households and suffer
higher poverty rates than lone father or two parent households.
The report also studied gender representation in
leadership positions and found that in most societies around the world, women
continue to have unequal voice in public and private spheres. The number of females
among Heads of State or Government is still an exception, although the world
currently counts 19 female, a slight improvement compared to the 12 counted in
1995.
Similarly, only 22 per cent of parliamentarians and 18
per cent of appointed ministers are women. Women’s representation among
corporate managers, legislators and senior officials also remains low, with no
country reaching or surpassing parity and only about half of countries having
shares of 30 per cent or more.
The launch of the report coincides with the World Statistics Day, marked annually on 20 October to highlight the importance of statistics in helping policy makers develop informed policies that impact millions of people worldwide.