UNICEF e-newsletter

On its 60th anniversary, UNICEF has launched a comprehensive report that says gender equality is critical to child survival and development.

The State of the World’s Children 2007 examines the status of women around the world. It concludes that an end to gender discrimination produces a ‘double dividend’ benefiting women and children – with a positive impact on the health of societies everywhere.

“The lives of women are inextricably linked to the well-being of children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman. “If they are not educated, if they are not healthy, if they are not empowered, the children are the ones who suffer.”

Released on 11 December – the same day UNICEF was established six decades ago – the report argues that progress in women’s status has not come far enough. Millions of girls and women continue to live in poverty, disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, less likely to attend school and often subject to physical and sexual violence.

UNICEF suggests seven key interventions to empower women and saves children’s lives:

• Abolish school fees and invest in girls’ education
• Invest government funding in gender equality
• Enact legislation to create a level playing field for women and to address domestic as well as gender-based violence
• Ensure women’s participation in politics
• Involve women’s grassroots organizations in policy development
• Engage men and boys on the importance of gender equality
• Improve research and data on gender issues.

Promoting gender equality is the focus of Millennium Development Goal 3. If this goal is achieved, UNICEF believes, benefits will be felt in many other spheres – from poverty and hunger reduction to global health and environmental sustainability.

The State of the World’s Children 2007 shows that in the long run, the impact of empowering women is simply too important to ignore.

For every child
Health, Education, Equality, Protection
ADVANCE HUMANITY
UNICEF

Here is another link that you may be interested in:

UNICEF now offers two RSS feeds: UNICEF News, with the latest stories from our homepage; and UNICEF Photo Essays, featuring images from around the world. Find out more.