Gender inequality is barrier to progress in Asia, UN report says

Gender inequality is barrier to progress in Asia, UN report says

Pakistani women shout slogans during a protest rally in Hyderabad on Monday on the occasion of International Women's Day. Rallies, walks and seminars were being held in various Pakistani cities to mark the struggle for women's rights. (EPA)

By DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR


NEW DELHI: Gender inequality remains a barrier to progress, justice and social stability in the Asia-Pacific region despite robust growth, a United Nations report released Monday said.

The United Nations Development Fund report titled Power, Voice and Rights, said that South Asia, in particular, lagged with many gender-gap indicators close to or lower than sub-Saharan Africa.

"Gender equality contributes to human development," UNDP chief Helen Clark said in the Indian capital to mark International Women's Day. "Under-representation of women in the workforce has a significant negative impact on growth."

According to the report, lack of women's participation in the workforce was costing the region 89 billion dollars annually.

The report said the impact of the global economic downturn should be seen as an opportunity and not an excuse to delay gender equality, which was an issue of economic pragmatism as much as social justice.

The report said many countries in the Asia-Pacific region had made formal commitments to gender equality and some progress had been made in longevity, education and labor participation.

"Yet despite these achievements, Asia-Pacific lags behind on several key aspects of gender equality in relation to other developing regions - and in terms of where it could be with the right attention and political commitment," it said.

The report said Asian women could not take survival for granted.

"Asia has the highest male-female ratio at birth in the world, with sex-selective abortion and infanticide leaving approximately 96 million women missing in seven countries," it said, citing Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, South Korea and Nepal.

The report said women comprised 49 percent of the population in the Asia-Pacific region compared to the world average of 51 percent.

East Asia had the highest male-to-female sex ratio at birth, 119 boys for every 100 girls compared to the world average of 107 boys to a 100 girls during 2000-05.

"The high sex ratio indicates a preference for male children and the deliberate use of certain means to achieve it - a form of gender inequality that begins even before birth," the report said.

It said the 96 million women in Asia estimated to be "missing" had died because of discriminatory treatment in access to health and nutrition or through pure neglect - or they were never born in the first place.

"China and India each has about 42.6 million missing women," the report added.

More women died of childbirth in South Asia - 500 for every 100,000 live births - than any other part of the world except sub-Saharan Africa, the report said.

South Asia also had the highest prevalence of malnutrition in the world, with more than 41.1 percent of children under the age of 5 affected, compared to 27 percent in sub-Saharan Africa and 12.8 per cent in East Asia and the Pacific.

Another area of concern was the gap between men and women in political participation, with the Asia-Pacific region containing the second-lowest percentage of women parliamentarians in the world, after to the Arab region.

"All this is particularly troubling when the region is purportedly making sustained gains in economic growth," the report added.

It recommended the urgent mobilization of resources to ensure gender equality, including in the crafting of economic policies, collecting better data for gender analysis, boosting political participation, gender-equitable laws and fostering new attitudes.