Women

Since 1995, the number of people living on less than $1 a day has fallen; the gender gap in primary and (to a lesser extent) secondary education has been reduced; and women enjoy greater participation in elected assemblies and state institutions. In addition, women are a growing presence in the labor market. However, the decline in overall poverty masks significant differences not only between but within regions.

For women, progress, while steady, has been painfully slow. Despite increased parity in primary education, disparities are still wide in secondary and tertiary education--both increasingly key to new employment opportunities. And while women's share of seats in parliament have inched up in regions, women still hold only 16 percent of parliamentary seats worldwide. Finally, although women have entered the paid labor force in great numbers, the result in terms of economic security is not clear. According to the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals Report 2005: "Women's access to paid employment is lower than men's in most of the developing world... Women are less likely than men to hold paid and regular jobs and more often work in the informal economy, which provides little financial security."

Source: United Nations, Progress of the World's Women 2005