Vector Issue 12 - 2011

of women who share in employment in the nonagricultural
sector remains at worryingly low levels
in many African and South Asian nations 2 .
Long-held cultural views of the secondary role of
women in society provide a major barrier to the
active participation of women in educational,
financial and employment sectors. Drought, food
shortages, conflict, failure to register births, child
labour and the rise of HIV/AIDS further cripple
progress by impeding school involvement and
denying girls the opportunity to gain an education 1 .
Beyond immediate crises, however, women are
unable to achieve equal participation in society
in the absence of appropriate infrastructure to
unable to break the cycle of poverty and become
active participants in the labour market 3 . Where
women are denied an education, they are unable to
make choices about the use of contraception, key to
controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS and in enabling
women to choose the timing of their children 3 . And
where women are not empowered to become active
decision makers, their needs continue to be unheard
and unaddressed.
alyssa fitzpatrick
university of adelaide
support their ongoing development. For example,
in communities where water is not available by
pipeline, girls are twice as likely as boys to be
required to collect water, completing multiple
long-distance trips and sacrificing time that could
otherwise be used for education and employment. 3
Women’s economic involvement provides a conduit
for improved livelihoods for themselves and their
families, and improved health and educational
opportunities for the children 3 . Where women are
denied ownership and control of resources, they are
‘‘
investing in women
‘‘
and girls has a
multiplier effect on
productivity, effiency
and sustained
economic growth
review summit 2010
The 2010 Review Summit reiterated its
commitment to promoting women’s social and
economic involvement, stressing that investing
in women and girls has a multiplier effect on
productivity, efficiency and sustained economic
growth” and thus that a focus on women is key
to ensuring continued progress and meaningful
improvements in quality of life 4 . The 2010 Review
Summit placed an emphasis on the continuing need
to target gender equality through the launch of
the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
Progress Chart. Highlighting the promising increase
in aid directed at improving parity in women’s
involvement in recent years, it nonetheless called
for further contributions to address this core
concern 3 . However, the Summit also emphasised
the need to ensure good sanitation and nutrition,
and to combat HIV/AIDS, to facilitate women’s
empowerment. It additionally reiterated the
reciprocal dependency of achieving MDG 3 and
realisation of the other core targets embodied in
the Millennium Development Goals to achieve
improvements in quality of life for all. At the
heart of it, however, is the deep understanding that
without equal opportunity for women, there will
be continued barriers to achieving long-lasting and
meaningful development.
www.ghn.amsa.org.au
vector FEB 2011
15