Gender equality 'central' to all other development, say women's groups

For my blog this week, I came across an article from The Guardian from the U.K. discussing how women and children were at the core of alleviating the impoverished conditions of Liberia. This was a direct result of a series of UN High-Level Panel meetings. One of the goals here to improve the condition of women was to get women more involved in the work place and into higher positions in the private sector of Uganda's economy. Another area of focus the article mentions is to reduce violence against women here by empowering women. One of the ways to empower women was through more involvement in business and government, but another way was to give women a stronger say over their own bodies, especially with sexual and reproductive rights. Sheelagh Kathy Mangones of the UN Women in Liberia said, “the right of women to have control over their bodies and decide when and if they have children is more than just a health issue; it's crucial for transforming the global economy.”  

Not only as a basic human right, but violence against women has large negative impacts on women's and has huge social and economic costs. A very interesting proposition from this reading was that it recognizes the 'unpaid' work that women do when it comes to domestic chores and caring for children. It even goes as far as calling the unpaid work a 'hidden tax' on their society. It points out that women need assistance in alleviating the sole burden of domestic work so that they can be more productive and fulfill their economic potential. The objective of the UN council meetings is to help protect women's rights and move them out from the 'informal' sector of home and out into the 'formal' sector to greatly improve their economic fortunes.

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/feb/01/gender-equality-central-development-women)