The Millennium Development Goals In Action: Part III
Promote Gender Equality & Empower Women
We hear much about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) but just exactly what are they and what are some real life examples?
Our eight part series, The MDGs in Action, looks at real life examples of each goal and the people working to achieve them.
MDG Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality
A Programme In Action: Soroptimist International - Social Justice for girls in Sierra Leone
Your Action: Support SI, visit the website, 'Like' on Facebook, donate or Tweet.
What is MDG 3?
A story of inequality
Where would the world be without women? As 50 per cent of the world’s population, women are crucial to all aspects of life, growth and development. And yet, alarmingly, women and girls suffer from the most severe levels of poverty and discrimination compared to any other group on the planet.
There are around 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty at this point in time, and an overwhelming majority of these people— an incredible 70 per cent—are female. According to CARE, women do two-thirds of the world’s work but only earn ten per cent of the income. Women also produce half of the world’s food, and yet they own only a tiny one per cent of the world’s land. Women, along with being the most poor, are also the most illiterate. 900 million adults are unable to read or write, and two-thirds of these individuals are women.
A framework for equity
The third millennium development goal (MDG), “Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women,” aims to provide women and girls with the resources and opportunities to realise their full potential, free from discrimination and harm. The primary target of goal three is to give girls the same access to primary and secondary education as boys, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education by 2015. Giving girls equal access to education will give them the confidence and power to determine their own futures.
Progress has been made
Since the MDGs were established in 2000, real progress for women has been achieved. According to the UN, in 2008 there were 96 girls for every 100 boys enrolled in primary school, and 95 girls for every 100 boys enrolled in secondary school. This is a vast improvement, for levels of female education worldwide are coming very close to matching that of males.
However, while great gains have been made in working towards eliminating gender disparity in education, there are still large numbers of girls from developing nations who are not able to attend primary school—something which was supposed to have been eradicated by 2005. With only five years left to achieve goal three, there is still much work that needs to be done.
An opportunity to change the world
As women endure some of the toughest hardships, they also have the potential to be the most powerful catalysts of social change. Currently millions of women and girls who live in poorer countries aren’t allowed the same access to education and high-level professional employment as males.
But imagine if they were. If young girls are allowed to go to school when they grow up they can become doctors, or run their own businesses, or even become decision-makers in parliament. If this happens, the economic conditions of many impoverished nations would dramatically improve. And better economic conditions would enable support for better health care and environment sustainability.
As Helene Gayle, president and CEO of CARE USA explains: “With just a little help women and girls can find their voice. Their world opens up and they go on to create lasting solutions to poverty and bring permanent change to their communities.” Women have the power to change to their own futures, and that of the entire world. They just need to be given the chance.
Article written by Roselina Press
MDG 3 in Action:
“My Name is Ludnilla”
It is important not to forget the people behind the statistics and how their lives are benefited from the work of NGOs.Soroptimist International is a global organisation for women in management and professions. Every four years they launch an international project, in partnership with a charity, NGO, or the UN to target a social issue.
Sierra Leone is the poorest country in world and faces many economic issues stemming from the 1991 ten-year civil war. Young girls often become “social orphans” as adults leave to find work, many face isolation and homelessness from unplanned pregnancies and become vulnerable to human trafficking.
SI is working in partnership with other organizations on the ground providing training for women and girls so they can lift themselves out of poverty.
Ludnilla’s story
At a recent international conference, Making Health Global, SI spoke of the success story of Ludnilla as an example of what can be achieved, this is her story,
“My name is Ludnilla and I am 19. My life until now was full of unhappy moments and I wouldn’t want them to be back. My father died when I was 13 years old and my life turned into a horror movie.
“My mother left me, my younger brother of 6 and a little sister of one and a half years we stayed alone. I had to leave school in order to take care of them.
“After two years a social assistant came into my life and helped me to manage and go back to school and participate in your project. This changed my life.
“I finished school with best grades, met people with broad life experience. They helped me over come the hardships and problems on my way towards obtaining a profession.
“I want to continue education because the hardest step has already been made and that was the first step. Regardless on whether that will be easy or hard there is no way back.”
Article written by Lauren Jones
You can support S.I. by visiting their website, donating or joining.
Soroptimist International is a worldwide organization for women in management and professions, working through service projects to advance human rights and the status of women.
Visit
S.I. Federation websites:
- Soroptimist International of the Americas
http://www.soroptimist.org/ - Soroptimist International of Europe
http://www.soroptimisteurope.org/ - Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland
http://www.soroptimist-gbi.org/ - Soroptimist International of the South West Pacific
http://www.siswp.org/
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