Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Achieve Universal Primary Education Promote gender equality and empower women Reduce child mortality Improve maternal health Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Environmental sustainability Build a global partnership for development

Goal 3: promote gender equality and empower women

goal 3 icon Goal 3: promote gender equality and empower  women

Goal 3 is to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, and at all levels by 2015. The inclusion of women in education—and hence, in the workplace— and development are two interrelated issues: societies where women are more equal stand a much greater chance of improving the quality of life for everyone.

In our world today:

  • Two-thirds of the world's illiterate people are women.
  • The employment rate for women is two-thirds that for men.

Progress on Goal 3:

  • Women’s political participation has increased since 1990: In 2005, 1 in 5 parliamentarians were women. Women now have seat in parliament in countries where only men used to be able to be elected.
  • The number of women in the work force is slowly increasing in all regions, but attitudes and employment policies still discriminate against them.

Girl at Market

Photo by Sam Bloomfield

Success story from Rwanda

Women in Rwanda now top the world rankings of women in national parliaments, with 49 per cent of representation compared to a world average of 15.1 per cent. The 2003 election was the first legislative election after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Women’s groups pushed for a quota system and greater inclusion of women in the political process. In the new constitution, a quota system was put in place whereby 24 of the 80 seats in the lower house and 6 of the 20 seats in the upper house of parliament are reserved for women. Female candidates also won 15 non-reserved seats in the lower house.

Adapted from the following UN publication

Mutume, Gumisai.Women break into African politics.African Recovery. 18.1 (April 2004): 4.

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