---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 19:50:24 -0800
From: Carol McRoberts <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [WASAN] Fw: [women-csd] new publication on women's status
FYI
Subject: [women-csd] new publication on women's status
>
> The Population Reference Bureau (PRB) is pleased to announce the
publication
> of an updated data sheet that catalogs the status of women in 168
countries.
> The data in the Women of Our World 2002 wallchart show that women have
seen
> major gains in health, education, and rights over the last half-century,
but
> that progress has been uneven. Women in the poorest countries continue to
be
> held back by gender inequality that limits their schooling, hinders their
> ability to plan their pregnancies, and affords them few economic
> opportunities.
>
> The data sheet, released in advance of International Women's Day on March
8,
> contains indicators on reproductive health, including maternal mortality,
> fertility rates, and HIV/AIDS, as well as demography, education, economic
> status, and political leadership.
>
> Please see the attached press release for more detail on this new data
> sheet. If you would like to request copies, please contact PRB at
> [log in to unmask] The data sheet will be available soon online at PRB's
> website (www.prb.org). For more information, contact Justine Sass (202)
> 939-5459 or Lori Ashford (202) 939-5402.
>
> ************************************
> Feb. 28, 2002
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> Contact: Justine Sass [log in to unmask]; Lori Ashford [log in to unmask]
>
>
> Gender Gaps Hinder Women's Progress in Poorest Countries
>
>
> WASHINGTON-Women have seen major gains in health, education, and rights
over
> the last half-century, but they have made greater progress in
industrialized
> countries than in developing regions of the world, the Population
Reference
> Bureau (PRB) reports.
>
> The poorest countries continue to be marked by gender inequality that, for
> many women, limits their schooling, hinders their ability to plan their
> pregnancies, and affords them few economic opportunities, according to
PRB's
> Women of Our World 2002 data sheet.
>
> "Governments around the world increasingly recognize that the advancement
> of women contributes to greater prosperity for men and women alike," said
> Lori Ashford, senior policy analyst at PRB, a research organization in
> Washington, D.C. "As the data sheet shows, most developing nations have
> considerable work to do in improving women's health and status."
>
> The data sheet, released in advance of International Women's Day on March
8,
> catalogs the status of women in 168 countries, with indicators on
> demography, reproductive health, education, economic status, and political
> leadership.
>
> Among the findings:
>
> * Women tend to equal or outnumber men in the population for
> biological reasons. However, some countries, mainly in Asia, have
markedly
> fewer women than men because discrimination against girls and women can
> result in inferior nutrition and health care and, in some places,
> sex-selective abortions or infanticide.
>
> * Globally, women account for just under half of adults living with
> HIV/AIDS. But in sub-Saharan Africa, where the virus is spread mostly
> through heterosexual activity, 55 percent of infected adults are women.
>
> * The picture is worse for young women: In sub-Saharan Africa, they
> are two to six times more likely than young men to become infected with
HIV.
> In South and Southeast Asia, 60 percent of young people with HIV/AIDS are
> female.
>
> * Nearly all of the half-million women who die every year from
> pregnancy-related causes live in developing countries. These deaths are
> strongly associated with a lack of medical care around the time of
> childbirth.
>
> * Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal death ratios (820
> maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) in western and southern Asia.
But
> the ratios in several sub-Saharan African countries are more than twice as
> high. Also, Afghanistan's fertility rate of 6 children per woman is the
> highest in its region, but exceeded by more than a dozen sub-Saharan
African
> countries.
>
> * Though more than half of couples in the developing world use
family
> planning, more than 100 million women in these countries want to plan
their
> pregnancies but don't use contraception for various reasons, including
fear
> of side effects, their husband's disapproval, family pressures to have
more
> children, and inaccessibility of contraceptive supplies.
>
> * School enrollments for girls and boys increased during the 1990s
in
> most regions of the world. However, at the secondary school level, the
gap
> remains wide in western and southern Asia, North Africa, and much of
> sub-Saharan Africa. In these regions, girls are more likely than boys to
> discontinue schooling for a variety of reasons, including household
duties,
> marriage, childbearing, and parents' perception that education benefits
boys
> more than girls.
>
> * Women's participation in the labor force has increased in most
areas
> of the world, but typically they are paid less than men, even when they
work
> in the same sector.
>
> * In industrialized as well as developing countries, women's
political
> representation has lagged behind gains in other areas. Globally, women
held
> 14 percent of seats in national legislative bodies, only slightly higher
> than a decade earlier. Women's lack of political representation hinders
> their ability to influence public policies.
>
> The data sheet is available as a wall chart and will soon be accessible
> through PRB's website, www.prb.org. Single copies are free to writers and
> members of the news media. For copies, call 202-483-1100.
>
> The Population Reference Bureau is the leader in providing timely and
> objective information on U.S. and international population trends and
their
> implications. PRB is a nonprofit, nonadvocacy organization in Washington,
> DC.
>
> Please visit the Interagency Gender Working Group (IGWG) web site at
> http://www.measurecommunication.org/.
>
>
>
>
> This is a listserver set up by the CSD Women's Caucus, a global group of
women and men working on gender & sustainable development issues. It has
been established to circulate information in preparation for the UN
Commission on Sustainable Development Sessions and Earth Summit 2002
(officially the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South
Africa, Sept. 2002).
> To learn more about the CSD Women's Caucus activities, check the web-site
at www.earthsummit2002.org/wcaucus/csdngo.htm.
>
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>
>
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