path way togender equality6 pathway to gender equality pathway to gender equality7 hunger, to...

CEDAW, Beijing

and theMDGs

Pathway toGenderEquality

PAT H WAY T O G E N D E R E Q U A L I T Y 1

2

4

8

12

14

18

22

26

30

34

38

42

43

UNIFEM is the women’s fund at the United Nations. It provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies that promote women’s human rights, political participationand economic security. UNIFEM works in partnership with UN organizations, governments andnon-governmental organizations (NGOs) and networks to promote gender equality. It links women’s issues and concerns to national, regional and global agendas by fostering collaboration and providingtechnical expertise on gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment strategies.

This publication has been developed in cooperation and with support of the GTZ sector project"Strengthening Women's Rights" on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperationand Development (BMZ).

Written by Lee Waldorf, with research by Shelley Inglis

Acknowledgements: A number of individuals have provided suggestions and support that have greatly assisted in the development of this publication, and we would particularly like to thank Barbara Adams, Carol Barton, Mara Bustelo, Nanette Braun, Noeleen Heyzer, Chandni Joshi, Osnat Lubrani, Zina Mounla, Juliane Osterhaus, Leigh Pasqual, Joanne Sandler, Hanna Beate Schoepp-Schilling and Damira Sartbaeva for their contributions.

Pathway to Equality: CEDAW, Beijing and the MDGs Copyright ©United Nations Development Fund forWomenISBN: 1-932827-17-X

Preface

A Millennium Gender Equality Agenda

Putting the MDG’s to Work for Gender Equality

Linking the Millennium Development Goals to CEDAW and Beijing

Goal 1

Goal 2

Goal 3

Goals 4 and 5

Goal 6

Goal 7

Goal 8

Electronic resources

Bibliography

—————————————————————————— ————————

—————————————————— ————————————————

———— —————————————————————————— ————

——————————————————————————————————

— ————————————————————————— ————————

————————————————— — ————————————————

————————————————— —————————————————

——————————————————————————————————

— —————————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————— ———

——————————————————————————————————

——————————————————————————————————

——————————————— ———————————————————CO

VE

R:

FL

OW

ER

GR

OW

ER

NE

AR

PA

LO

MA

R,

BO

LIV

IA.

PH

OT

O B

YA

IZA

R R

AL

DE

S--

AF

P/G

ET

TY

IMA

GE

S

Table ofContents

RIG

HT:

PH

OT

O B

YA

IZA

R R

AL

DE

S--

AF

P/G

ET

TY

IMA

GE

S

The Millennium Declaration and theMillennium Development Goals(MDGs) have opened a new door forthe advancement of gender equality.Used to their best potential, they can

be the means by which the insidious linkbetween gender inequalities, the waste anddestruction of women’s human potential, and the seemingly end-less reproduction of poverty is brought into sharp focus, and finallyovercome. As the Millennium Declaration has recognized, mean-ingful and sustainable reductions in poverty levels depend on ourwillingness to confront the reality that half of the world’s popula-tion, girls and women, have been systematically subordinatedand disadvantaged. And on our unflagging commitment to takingthe concrete steps needed to eliminate this inequality.

Because the MDGs have become the centerpiece of a com-mon agenda embraced by all development partners, includingthe development assistance community, they are positioned tobe a genuinely effective engine for change. But even more impor-tant than the fact of this convergence of development agendas isthe emerging consensus that efforts to achieve the MDGs mustat all times be infused by the vision set out in the MillenniumDeclaration. While the MDGs set out very concrete, time-boundand measurable goals, targets and indicators for poverty reduc-tion, they can only provide us with the broad strokes and outlinesof the work that must be undertaken. The Millennium Declarationis and must remain our guide for bringing the MDGs to real life

– and what the Declaration tells us is that effortsto implement the commitments declared inworld conferences and made international lawthrough human rights standards must beenhanced to unprecedented levels.

The Millennium Declaration also directs ustowards the urgent need for holistic and inte-grated approaches to poverty reduction.Certain concerns – such as promoting genderequality, combating HIV/AIDS and developinga global partnership for development – are socritical that they have been treated as Goalsin their own right. But this should not distractattention from the need to attend to thesedimensions in every initiative aimed at achiev-

PAT H WAY T O G E N D E R E Q U A L I T Y 32 PAT H WAY T O G E N D E R E Q U A L I T Y

ing the MDGs. The HIV/AIDS pandemicseriously threatens the attainment of allof the other Goals. If development coop-eration is not determinedly aligned tosupport the achievement of all of theMDGs, efforts at the national level maybe in vain. And, as this booklet details inparticular, gender inequalities are closely intertwined with everydevelopment challenge the MDGs are attempting to address.

As this booklet also underlines, the Convention on theElimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, andthe Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women must be ourtouchstones for realizing the potential held out by the MDGs. Thewealth of understanding and experience of the nature of genderbased discrimination and the steps needed to achieve genderequality that has been generated through the CEDAW and Beijingprocesses stands waiting to be tapped. By using CEDAW andBeijing as the lens through which the MDGs are understood andimplemented, principled conviction and development effective-ness can be brought together in a powerful way.

The vision articulated in the Millennium Declaration is one thatthe United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) andthe German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment (BMZ) fully share. BMZ gives high importance tothe realization of women’s human right as a development goal inits own right, and as an essential means of achieving povertyreduction and sustainable development. UNIFEM has embracedthe realization of women’s human right to gender equality asthe overarching framework and as the ultimate goal of all sectorsof its work – from economic empowerment, to peace building,to combating the pandemics of HIV/AIDS and violence againstwomen. UNIFEM and BMZ hope that this resource tool will bean important contribution to the work that we, in alliance with gen-der equality advocates around the world, are undertaking to makethe promise of the Millennium Declaration a reality.

NOELEEN HEYZERExecutive Director, UNIFEM

Preface

HEIDEMARIE WIECZOREK-ZEULFederal Minister for EconomicCooperation and Development


The Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) were born fromthe Millennium Declaration –an unprecedented global con-sensus reached in the year

2000 by 189 Member States of theUnited Nations. In the Declaration these nations together under-took to advance a global vision for improving the condition ofhumanity throughout the world in the areas of development andpoverty eradication, peace and security, protection of the envi-ronment, and human rights and democracy.

The absolute necessity of advancing the human rights ofall people in order to achieve this vision is underscored bythe Declaration. In particular, the advancement of women’sright to gender equality is recognized as critically necessary forprogress. The Declaration pledges explicitly "to combat all formsof violence against women and to implement the Conventionon the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW)". And it further recognizes the importance of pro-moting gender equality and women’s empowerment as an effec-tive pathway for combating poverty, hunger and disease andfor stimulating truly sustainable development.

At the same time, the Millennium Declaration reconfirmsthe central role of gender equality from the perspective of theUN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995) andother major world conferences such as the Rio Conference onEnvironment and Development (1992), the Vienna Conferenceon Human Rights (1993), the Cairo Conference on Populationand Development (1994), the Copenhagen World Summit forSocial Development (1995) and the Istanbul Conference onHuman Settlements (1996). These world conferences organ-ized by the UN in the 1990s provided the impetus for the inter-national community to come together at the Millennium Summitin 2000 to agree on steps needed to reduce poverty and achievesustainable development, and the Millennium Declarationrenewed the commitments made by all Member States at theseconferences.

PH

OT

O B

YF

AR

OO

Q N

AE

EM

--A

FP

/GE

TT

YIM

AG

ES

Women activists at a rallyin Islamabad, Pakistan onInternational Labour Day.

AMillenniumGender Equality Agenda

6 PAT H WAY T O G E N D E R E Q U A L I T Y PAT H WAY T O G E N D E R E Q U A L I T Y 7

hunger, to expanding education and lowering child mortality, to increas-ing access to safe water, to ensuring environmental sustainability".2

There is a place secured for combating gender inequality in theMDGs, but within its broad global framework gender equality con-cerns appear in a very simplified form. Will the MDGs send the inter-national community backwards in its understanding of the com-plex issues that must be confronted? Gender equality advocateshave laboured tirelessly to ensure that obligations and commitmentsunder CEDAW and Beijing are fulfilled, and the results are nowevident in the form of gender sensitive laws, constitutional provisions,judicial decisions, policies, government structures and resource allo-cations. Will the MDGs distract attention and commitment away fromthe gender equality processes we have worked for so long to makeeffective?

The opportunity provided by the MDGs can be embraced – with-out lowering the existing standard of gender equality analysis andstrategies and without weakening recognition of established globalgender equality processes – if we keep true to the spirit of theMillennium Declaration. Efforts to achieve the MDGs must be guidednot only by the global goals, targets and indicators but also, mostcrucially, by the Declaration’s recognition of the central importanceof gender equality to all progress in development.

The approach this publication therefore proposes is one in whichthe MDGs are treated not as a brand new agenda but as a new vehi-cle for CEDAW and Beijing implementation. There is much tobe gained by approaching CEDAW, Beijing and the MDGs as mutu-ally supporting processes. Comprehensive and in-depth analysis ofthe ways in which gender inequality operates in every dimensionof women’s lives has already been generated through CEDAW andBeijing, and it is available to inform work on the MDGs. Many effec-tive strategies for achieving gender equality have been developedover the past several decades through efforts to implement CEDAWand Beijing, and these proven approaches can be up-scaled andutilized in strategies to achieve the MDGs. And this is not just a ques-tion of what CEDAW and Beijing can do for the MDGs. If the com-mitment and resources that are currently being mobilized to achievethe MDGs can be harnessed to support the actions we already knowclearly need to be taken by virtue of CEDAW and Beijing, progressin their implementation will also be taken to the next level.

The Millennium Declaration can, if we choose, be taken at its word.

Eight of the key commitments set out in the Millennium Declarationcame to form the Millennium Development Goals:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger2. Achieve universal primary education3. Promote gender equality and empower women4. Reduce child mortality5. Improve maternal health6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases7. Ensure environmental sustainability8. Develop a global partnership for development

The MDGs are accompanied by 16 global targets and 48 globalindicators. The Goals, targets and indicators are meant to worktogether to stimulate swift and effective action to achieve the devel-opment and poverty eradication aims of the Declaration. The targetsand indicators were created to provide concrete measurements ofthe extent to which countries are making progress towards achiev-ing the Goals, and this progress is being assessed on a regular basisat the country level through national MDG reports.

Achieving the MDGs has become a high priority for all develop-ment partners – national governments, the UN system and interna-tional financial institutions alike. The fact that the need to addressgender inequality has been emphasized by the Millennium Declaration,and that there is both an explicit gender equality Goal in the MDGsand recognition that gender equality is important for achieving all ofthe Goals, would suggest that the MDGs provide a valuable oppor-tunity for advancing the gender equality agenda.

However, many women’s human rights advocates have notedthat gender equality, as a cross-cutting concern for the achievementof all the MDGs, is not well-reflected in the global targets and indi-cators.1 There is concern that the more far-reaching obligations andcommitments embodied in CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for Actionand other globally and regionally agreed documents have been poorlyrepresented. But advocates are taking up this challenge by callingfor the inclusion of a broader range of gender-sensitive targets andindicators at the national level. And more importantly – beyond thequestions of measurement and reporting – it is clear that the actualstrategies that will be adopted to achieve the MDGs must incorpo-rate strong gender equality initiatives if they are to be successful. Asthe 2003 Human Development Report has stressed, "gender equal-ity is at the core of whether the Goals will be achieved – from improv-ing health and fighting disease, to reducing poverty and mitigating

1 WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL COALITION FOR ECONOMIC JUSTICE, 2004. 2 UNDP, 2003.


NATIONAL MDG REPORTING

The National MDG report maps out the priorities andapproaches a country will adopt for achieving each of theMillennium Development Goals. A large percentage of thecountries that have undertaken to achieve the MDGs are cur-rently in the midst of preparing, or are beginning to prepare,

these reports. This process not only provides the opportunity for theglobal MDG framework to be fine-tuned to individual country circum-stances but, as part of this effort, for the gender equality dimensionsof each Goal to be given proper attention.

As will be detailed in part 2, the gender equality issues that ariseunder each of the MDGs are integrally connected to CEDAW andBeijing – what gender equality means, and what is required to achieveit, doesn’t change from framework to framework. This is a great advan-tage when engaging with the MDGs, as the decades of work that gen-der equality advocates have committed to CEDAW and Beijing canbe applied directly. Some key steps include the following:

■ Bring CEDAW and Beijing advocates to the tableThe development of a national MDG report should involve broadconsultation with relevant sectors across society. The search forgender equality experts to provide input into the report should beginwith CEDAW and Beijing. Across various government sectors andwithin civil society there will be groups of individuals who have beenactively involved in implementing and monitoring CEDAW and put-ting Beijing national plans of action into effect.

■ Draw on CEDAW and Beijing for situation analysisFor each of the MDGs, the report begins with a situation analysisthat assesses the extent to which the Goal has already beenachieved and the further challenges posed. Much of the informa-tion regarding gender equality concerns does not need to be gen-erated or collected afresh, because it is already readily available ingovernment and NGO reports that have been submitted to theCommittee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (aswell as in those that may be in preparation at the time the MDGreport is being drafted). In addition, surveys and reports concern-ing the state of gender equality at the national level have been pre-pared for Beijing +5 and Beijing +10. All of these reports contain awealth of detailed qualitative and statistical information about gen-der inequalities in the country.

■ Frame national indicatorsthat respond to CEDAWand Beijing prioritiesThe global targets and indi-cators are perhaps the weak-est aspect of the MDGframework from a genderequality perspective and cancertainly be improved upon.They can be adjusted andexpanded to suit national contexts in the MDG reports. Any gen-der equality indicators that have already been developed to sup-port Beijing and CEDAW implementation are helpful resources.Also, when developing new indicators, Beijing and CEDAW require-ments are good guides to ensure that these are properly designedto measure progress in achieving gender equality.

■ Improve statistical capacity on gender equality issuesThe MDGs rely heavily on the use of statistical data. The targetsand indicators are all intended to be statistically measurable, usingdata that is comparable across countries and regions. As in manycases statistical data on critical gender equality issues are currentlylacking, national efforts to achieve the MDGs provide the opportu-nity for improving capacity in these areas. The availability of newand improved data will in turn support all advocacy efforts to advancegender equality in the country.

■ Identify appropriate implementation measures CEDAW and Beijing can be drawn on to identify the actions mostneeded in each area in different country contexts under each Goal.In many countries the Beijing strategic objectives have been sup-plemented by national actions plans and reviews conducted forBeijing +5 and Beijing +10. Under CEDAW there are not onlythe obligations that all governments are legally bound to fulfil, butthe steps that should be taken at country level to meet theConvention’s requirements have also been set out in the CEDAWCommittee’s concluding comments. In addition, the Committeehas provided very detailed guidance on many key issues – suchas violence against women, health care and political participation– in its General Recommendations. All of these sources can bedrawn on for authoritative guidance on specific gender equalitymeasures that could be implemented to achieve each of the Goals.

Strategic Entry Points:

Putting theMDGs to Work

for GenderEquality

PH

OT

O B

YT

RY

GV

E B

OL

ST

AD

--P

AN

OS

PIC

TU

RE

S

Mothers and childrenattend a mobile healthclinic in Zambia.


MONITORING: KEEPING THE SPOTLIGHT ON GENDEREQUALITY

The drafting of national MDG reports is the first step in initi-ating a monitoring process to ensure that the MDGs areachieved, and these reports will be subjected to periodicreview and updating. However, the fact that there are alsotwo other well-established and ongoing monitoring processes

for commitments to gender quality, which will continue to operate dur-ing the period of achieving the MDGs and beyond, provides a pow-erful additional strategic opportunity. Using the CEDAW and Beijingmonitoring and review processes to draw attention to progress, obsta-cles and failures to implement the necessary gender equality meas-ures under the MDGs can help to ensure that national and interna-tional commitment to the gender dimensions of the MDGs does notwane.

■ The CEDAW Sessions■ The States that are party to the Convention – 179 as of October

2004 – must report to the CEDAW Committee every four years.During its twice-yearly sessions, the Committee applies its expert-ise to review the reporting government’s own assessment ofprogress and challenges in achieving gender equality, in light alsoof the alternate information (‘shadow reports’) about the countrysituation submitted by women’s non-governmental organizations(NGOs). Following this review, which includes a dialogue with thegovernment, the Committee issues concluding comments, identi-fying where the greatest shortcomings lie and what forms of actionthe government should consider taking.

CEDAW requires the elimination of discrimination in all aspectsof women’s lives to achieve gender equality. The gender equalityinitiatives a government has – and has not – undertaken to achievethe MDGs, as well as the extent to which these have been sup-ported with the institutional and financial resources necessary tomake them effective, are therefore relevant considerations for theCommittee. When reporting on their progress in implementing theConvention, States should include information on the new meas-ures that have been introduced in the context of the MDGs. Andwomen’s NGOs can bring both successes and difficulties to theCommittee’s attention. Where the Committee provides advice forimproving gender equality initiatives undertaken through the MDGs,this guidance can be brought back to the MDG review process.

■ Beijing +10■ Beijing +10, to be held as the 49th session of the Commission on

the Status of Women (28 February-11 March 2005), will providethe opportunity for a gender equality stocktaking by high-level gov-

ernment policy makers. It will involve a review of progress in achiev-ing the commitments made related to Beijing and the identificationof current challenges and appropriate forward-looking strategies.In preparation, each government will have produced a self-assess-ment of its progress, based on a standard questionnaire, and civilsociety organizations also have the opportunity to provide alter-native information on progress and obstacles. The information oncountry-level progress that is provided will be consolidated into aglobal report that will be issued by the UN Secretary General.

These assessments of progress and challenges, as well as theoutcomes of the regional Beijing +10 preparatory meetings, willinform the recommendations that will be agreed upon by govern-ment delegates. The Beijing +10 recommendations will, in turn, bebrought to the Millennium Summit +5 (to be held in September2005) to inform deliberations on paths forward to achieve the MDGs

Beijing +10 provides an opportunity to strengthen and focusthe gender equality dimensions of efforts to achieve the MDGs.Information on the adequacy of existing plans to advance genderequality through the MDGs, and proposals for more effective meas-ures, need to be brought to the government representatives’atten-tion. Strong gender equality recommendations from Beijing +10 andthe Millennium Summit will be powerful tools for use at the nationallevel to stimulate greater action on gender quality.

MAINSTREAMING GENDER EQUALITY

Efforts to achieve the MDGs will bring together a wide range ofgovernment sectors, development partners and civil societyorganizations. This provides an opportunity to improve coor-dination on gender equality concerns and raise them to newand higher policy levels. The MDGs will contribute to stream-

lining and strengthening monitoring and enhancing accountability forsectoral agencies and ministries in relation to specific targets and indi-cators. If gender equality considerations are successfully incorpo-rated into efforts to achieve the Goals, the MDG process will help serveto mainstream gender in a broader range of national programmesand policies than may previously have been possible.

Linking theMillenniumDevelopmentGoals toCEDAW andBeijing

Gender equality is a cross-cutting concern for all of the MDGs,but its proper place still needs to be clearly articulated in tar-gets, indicators and strategies to achieve the Goals at the nationallevel. Fortunately, CEDAW and Beijing provide detailed guidanceon the full range of relevant gender equality issues, and this can

be used to fine-tune MDG agendas. The first step in making use of CEDAWand Beijing for this purpose is to identify the specific ways in which thesethree frameworks correspond and support each other. In what follows, apreliminary mapping of gender equality issues raised by each Goal, andthe corresponding obligations and commitments under CEDAW and Beijing,is provided. Of course the priorities, challenges and most appropriateresponses will vary from region to region and from country to country.The concluding comments of the CEDAW Committee for each country, andnational plans of action and reviews conducted under Beijing, are impor-tant further references for linking CEDAW and Beijing to the MDGs in a waythat reflects different country realities.


Women collecting water froman oasis near Jodhpur, India.

PH

OT

O B

YJE

RE

MY

HO

RN

ER

--P

AN

OS

PIC

TU

RE

S

PH

OT

O B

YJI

N L

IU--

AF

P/G

ET

TY

IMA

GE

S

14 PAT H WAY T O G E N D E R E Q U A L I T Y

Amajor obstacle faced by countries try-ing to escape the poverty trap is a lackof the human skills and abilities

needed to make the transition out of poverty,and gender inequality is one of the greatestcontributors to this problem. The exclusionof many women from primary, secondary

and higher education, from the full benefits of health andsocial services, and from full labour force and market par-ticipation combine to severely limit their ability to developthe skills that are so desperately needed by their economies.As the Millennium Taskforce on poverty has noted, "one ofthe greatest barriers to human capital transition is the denialof basic human rights to a significant part of the population,and this applies broadly to women".3

Women’s access to productive assets and resourcesis frequently limited. For example, a large majority of theworld’s poor farmers are women, but in many countries theydo not have the legal rights to own either the land they tillor assets that would enable them to invest in it. In addition,governments’ failure or inability to provide adequate socialinfrastructures transfers a major care-giving labour burdento poor women and girls – and the ‘time poverty’ caused by

1GOAL

3 MILLENNIUM PROJECT TASK FORCE ON POVERTYAND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,

2004: 22.

Target 1Reduce by half

the proportion ofpeople living on

less than a dollar a day

Target 2Reduce by half

the proportion ofpeople who suffer

from hunger

Eradicateextremepovertyand hunger

A rural vendor sellsvegetables at a market

in Shanghai.

PH

OT

O B

YJI

N L

IU--

AF

P/G

ET

TY

IMA

GE

S


Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

the extension of their working day limits their chances ofengaging in income-generating activities, participating incommunity affairs and obtaining an education. Poor womenin both developed and developing countries can also bedeeply affected by trade policies and practices, which havean impact on the way in which essential services are pro-vided and on the demand of markets for labour, goods andservices.

In relation to hunger and malnutrition in particular, it isimportant to recognize that economic growth alone will notprovide a cure if unequal social conditions and exclusion-ary practices continue to deny women and girls equal accessto food and health care. Ensuring women’s economic auton-omy and empowerment is critical to protecting both theirown and their children’s nutritional needs.

WHAT CEDAW AND BEIJING REQUIREGovernments are obligated under CEDAW and committedunder Beijing to take a range of measures to guaranteewomen’s rights and access to economic resources that arecritically necessary for poverty reduction. They must ensuregender equality in all aspects of employment. Laws, poli-cies and administrative processes must guarantee thatwomen have equal rights in relation to property, contractsand loans – in public economic life and also within the con-text of marriage and family life. Women must be providedwith access to markets, credit and technology. Heightenedattention must be paid to the situation of rural women, andin particular their equal rights to land ownership must beensured, as well as adequate living conditions in relation tohousing, sanitation and water supply.

BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION■ Revise laws and administrative prac-

tices to ensure women’s equal rightsand access to economic resources(strategic objective A.2)

■ Provide women with access to sav-ings and credit mechanisms andinstitutions (strategic objective A.3)

■ Develop gender-based methodolo-gies and conduct research toaddress the feminization of poverty(strategic objective A.4)

■ Promote women’s economic rightsand independence, including accessto employment, appropriate workingconditions and control over economicresources (strategic objective F.1)

■ Facilitate women’s equal access toresources, employment, marketsand trade (strategic objective F.2)

■ Provide business services, trainingand access to markets, informationand technology, particularly tolow-income women (strategic objective F.3)

■ Strengthen women’s economiccapacity and commercial networks(strategic objective F.4)

■ Eliminate occupational segregationand all forms of employment discrim-ination (strategic objective F.5)

■ Promote harmonization of work andfamily responsibilities for women andmen (strategic objective F.6)

CEDAW■ Eliminate discrimination against

women to ensure the same rights formen and women in employment(article 11)

■ In particular, ensure the sameemployment opportunities, freechoice of profession, benefits andconditions of service, vocationaltraining and equal pay for work ofequal value (article 11.b, 11.c, 11.d)

■ Ensure men and women equalitybefore the law, and in particular thesame legal rights and capacitiesrelating to contracts and property(article 15)

■ Ensure men and women equality inall areas of economic and social life,and in particular the same rights tobank loans and all forms of financialcredit (article 13.b)

■ Ensure equality between men andwomen in marriage and family lifeand, in particular, the same rights forboth spouses regarding ownership,acquisition, management, adminis-tration, enjoyment and disposition ofproperty (article 16.1.h)

■ Ensure rural women equal treatmentin land reform and access to agricul-tural credit and loans, marketing facil-ities and technology (article 14.2.g)

■ Ensure rural women enjoy adequateliving conditions, especially in relationto housing, sanitation, electricity andwater supply, and transport and communications (article 14.2.h)

1GOAL

PH

OT

O B

YJO

HN

VIN

K--

MA

GN

UM

PH

OT

OS


The village school of Ban Saming, Laos

TThe education Goal is intended toensure that by the year 2015 all girlsand boys complete primary educa-

tion. While there has been a clear move-ment towards achieving gender equality ineducation over the past few decades, itremains out of reach globally – of the 150million children aged 6-11 currently not inschool, over 90 million are girls 4– and insome regions girls’ primary enrolment

remains below 60 per cent. A wide range of economic, social and cultural barriers

must be addressed to achieve gender equality in primaryeducation, including demands for girls’ labour at home andon farms, and both the reality and perception that as adultstheir employment and income-generating opportunities willbe limited. And measures sensitive to the particular obsta-cles blocking girls’ access to education need to be imple-

Target 3Ensure that allboys and girlscomplete a full

course of primaryschooling

2

4 WORLD BANK GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT GROUP, 2003: 11.

Achieve universal primary education

GOAL

PH

OT

O B

YJO

HN

VIN

K--

MA

GN

UM

PH

OT

OS


Achieve universal primary education

CEDAW■ Eliminate discrimination against

women to ensure equal rightsbetween men and women in education (article 10)

■ In particular, ensure the sameaccess to studies and achievementof diplomas at all levels of educa-tion, in rural as well as urban areas;access to the same standard of education; the elimination of stereotypes in education; the sameopportunities for scholarships andgrants; the same access to continuing education and literacyprogrammes; and the reduction offemale student drop-out rates andthe organization of programmes forgirls and women who have leftschool prematurely (articles 10.a, b,c, d, e and f)

■ Ensure rural women’s right to obtainall forms of training and education(article 14.2.d)

■ Take all legal and other measuresnecessary to provide effective protection against gender-basedviolence (General Recommendation#19)

mented. The reduction of the costs of schooling (such asschool fees, and uniform and textbook costs) has beenshown to have an especially beneficial effect on girls’ schoolparticipation, along with addressing parental concerns aboutmodesty and safety through training and hiring more femaleteachers and improving access to sanitary facilities. Girls’exposure to gender-based violence, both within school envi-ronments and while travelling to and from school, must beaddressed as a matter of urgency.

WHAT CEDAW AND BEIJING REQUIREGovernments are obligated under CEDAW and commit-ted under Beijing to ensure gender equality at all levelsof education – primary, secondary and university, as wellas in technical training, continuing education and literacyprogrammes. This involves not only providing equality ofopportunity to enter school, but also taking whatever meas-ures are necessary to ensure that girls and women aresupported to be able to complete their education on a basisof equality with boys and men. Governments must take thespecial obstacles that prevent girls and women from obtain-ing education into account and develop approaches toovercome them.

2BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION■ Ensure equal access to education

(strategic objective B.1)

■ Eliminate discrimination against girlsin education, skills development andtraining (strategic objective L.4)

■ Develop non-discriminatory educa-tion and training (strategic objectiveB.4)

■ Allocate sufficient resources for andmonitor the implementation of educational reforms (strategic objective B.5)

■ Eradicate violence against the girl-child (strategic objective L.7)

GOAL


PH

OT

O B

YM

AR

AI

SH

AH

--A

FP

/GE

TT

YIM

AG

ES

T he full range of measures that mustbe taken to achieve gender equalityand women’s empowerment have

already been comprehensively mapped outin CEDAW and the Beijing Platform forAction, as well as in key provisions of otherinternational instruments and conferencedocuments.5 The directions provided to gov-

ernments in these documents concern the most criticaldimensions of gender inequality in all aspects of women’slives – including in relation to gender-based violence, cul-tural stereotypes, trafficking and prostitution, armed conflict,political life, laws and legal status, government structures,the media, education, employment, health care, family plan-ning, poverty, the environment, rural life, and marriage andfamily relations. As the MDGs were originally conceivedas a means of accelerating and re-intensifying efforts to ful-fil existing global commitments, and the MillenniumDeclaration specifically pledged to enhance the implemen-tation of CEDAW, the most pressing demand to be madeunder Goal 3 is to implement CEDAW and Beijing acrossthe board.

3

Target 4Eliminate gender

disparity in primaryand secondary edu-

cation, preferablyby 2005, and to alllevels of educationno later than 2015

GOAL

Promote gender equality and empowerwomen

5 THESE INCLUDE: THE RIO CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAND DEVELOPMENT(1992), THE VIENNA CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS (1993), THE CAIROCONFERENCE ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT (1994), THE COPENHAGENWORLD SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT (1995), THE ISTANBUL CONFERENCE ONHUMAN SETTLEMENTS (1996), THE DURBAN CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM (2001)AND THE MONTERREY CONFERENCE ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT (2002).

Election workers passballot boxes along

a line to be delivered for vote counting inKabul, Afghanistan.


BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION■ Ensure equality and non-discrimina-

tion under the law and in practice(strategic objective I.2)

■ Integrate gender perspectives in legislation, public policies, programmes and projects (strategicobjective H.2)

■ Generate and disseminate gender-disaggregated data and informationfor planning and evaluation (strate-gic objective H.3)

■ Create or strengthen nationalmachineries and other governmen-tal bodies (strategic objective H.1)

The importance of activating a comprehensive – ratherthan piecemeal – programme to advance gender equalityis very clear in the context of the MDGs. The gender equal-ity issues of most immediate concern under the differentGoals cannot be effectively addressed unless action is takenon multiple fronts. For example, efforts to improve women’sincomes cannot focus exclusively on laws and policiesregarding the workplace and markets. They also have toaddress any underlying problems of gender inequality inwomen’s education, legal capacity, exposure to gender-based violence, cultural stereotypes and gendered divisionsof labour within the family, as well as broader issues of macro-economic policy and the global distribution of resources.Concerted efforts to enhance the implementation of CEDAWand Beijing in all of their dimensions are the best guaranteethat, when 2015 arrives, the situation will genuinely havechanged for women and significant progress will have beenmade not only on Goal 3 but on all the Goals.

WHAT CEDAW AND BEIJING REQUIREIn addition to advocating for enhanced efforts to implementall of the provisions of CEDAW and Beijing, attention shouldalso be drawn to the specific provisions in each that are con-cerned with creating the infrastructure and enabling envi-ronment that is needed for the realization of women’s humanrights. Where this basic groundwork has not been estab-lished, efforts to achieve gender equality will encounter obsta-cles. Of particular note are the requirements for constitu-tional and legislative review and change, and theestablishment of appropriate structures and processes withingovernment – including the creation and strengthening ofwomen’s machineries. Furthermore, while many govern-ments have demonstrated an increasing willingness to ini-tiate the necessary legal and structural improvements, therecognition that these changes must be adequatelyresourced and funded in order to be effective is often stillsadly lacking.

CEDAW■ Embody the principle of the equality

of men and women in national constitutions (article 2.a)

■ Abolish existing laws, regulations,customs and practices that discrimi-nate against women (article 2.f)

■ Adopt legislative measures to prohibit all forms of discriminationagainst women, and ensure thatwomen have access to protectionfrom discrimination through nationaltribunals and other public institutions(articles 2.b and c)

■ Establish and/or strengthen effectivenational machinery, supported bygender mainstreaming throughoutgovernment departments, to adviseon the impact on women of all government policies, monitor the situation of women comprehensivelyand help formulate new policies andeffectively carry out strategies andmeasures to eliminate discrimination(General Recommendation #6)

3GOALPromote gender equality and empower women


PH

OT

O B

YM

AR

AI

SH

AH

--A

FP

/GE

TT

YIM

AG

ES

Target 4Reduce by

two-thirds the mortality rate

among childrenunder five

Target 5Reduce by

three-quarters the maternal

mortality ratio

CEDAW and Beijing understand gender-based discrimination as simultaneouslythreatening the health of both women andtheir children, and for this reason Goals 4and 5 are being addressed together.

A s the Millennium Taskforce on childhealth and maternal health hasnoted, the challenge to achieving

these Goals is not technological but ratheris a matter of delivery. The social structuresneeded to effectively deliver appropriatehealth services do not currently exist – forreasons that ultimately have to do with the

more political considerations of under-funding and the dete-rioration of public health systems that has resulted fromeconomic reforms.

For women and their children, a range of gender inequal-ities entrenched in social, economic, cultural and politicalstructures have rendered this situation even more threat-ening. Depriving women of educational and literacy oppor-tunities significantly impairs their ability to care for their ownhealth and that of their children and to ensure proper nutri-tion. In some regions higher levels of female infant mortal-ity rates have been linked to the cultural devaluation of girlchildren and preferential treatment for sons in nutrition andhealth care. While many other health indicators haveimproved over the past few decades, maternal mortalityrates have shown little change. This is not only because ofa shortage of trained medical professionals and health cen-tres for deliveries, but also because women’s access to exist-ing services is hampered by their lack of control over house-

Woman and son at a nursing home in

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 4&5GOALS


PH

OT

O B

YA

NT

ON

IO S

CO

RZ

A--

AF

P/G

ET

TY

IMA

GE

S

Reduce child mortalityImprovematernalhealth

4&5


hold resources, lack of decision-making power and restric-tions on their freedom of movement outside the home.

The Millennium Taskforce on gender equality hasadvised that, within the health sector, "countries should pri-oritize policies that promote universal access to repro-ductive health services, including family planning, safe abor-tion, prevention and treatment of sexually transmittedinfections, and nutrition interventions, as well as policiesthat enable women to give birth safely by ensuring that alldeliveries are attended by appropriately skilled health per-sonnel and that all women have access to health facilitiesproviding emergency obstetric care in the event of life-threat-ening obstetric complications".6

WHAT CEDAW AND BEIJING REQUIREGovernments are obligated under CEDAW and committedunder Beijing to institute a wide range of measures relat-ing to the delivery of health care so as to ensure that menand women benefit equally. Where the health-care needsof both sexes are the same, equality of access must beensured. But where women have different needs, roles andresponsibilities – especially in relation to pregnancy, familyplanning and the nutrition and well-being of their families –governments must take the additional measures necessaryto ensure that these needs are also met. Furthermore, whilethe maternal health and child mortality goals most directlyengage CEDAW and Beijing obligations relating to the pro-vision of health care, it is important that gender equality guar-antees in other areas are also implemented to ensure thatwomen are sufficiently empowered to be able to take advan-tage of the services that are available.

CEDAW■ Eliminate discrimination in the field

of health care, to ensure equalitybetween men and women in accessto health-care services, includingthose related to family planning (article 12.1)

■ Ensure women appropriate servicesin connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natalperiod, granting free services wherenecessary (article 12.2)

■ Ensure women adequate nutritionduring pregnancy and lactation(article 12.2)

■ Ensure rural women’s right to ade-quate health-care facilities, includinginformation, counselling and services in family planning (article14.2.b)

■ Eliminate discrimination in educationto ensure women’s access to edu-cational information to help ensurethe health and well-being of families,including information and advice onfamily planning (article 10.h)

BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION■ Increase women’s access through-

out the life cycle to appropriate,affordable and quality health care,information and related services(strategic objective C.1)

■ Strengthen preventive programmesthat promote women’s health(strategic objective C.2)

■ Undertake gender-sensitive initiatives that address sexuallytransmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS andsexual and reproductive healthissues (strategic objective C.3)

■ Promote research and disseminateinformation on women’s health(strategic objective C.4)

■ Increase resources and monitor follow-up for women’s health (strategic objective C.5)

■ Eliminate discrimination against girls in health and nutrition (strategicobjective L.5)

Reduce child mortality Improve maternal health

6 MILLENNIUM PROJECT TASK FORCE ON EDUCATION AND GENDER EQUALITY,2004: 33.


PH

OT

O B

YA

NT

ON

IO S

CO

RZ

A--

AF

P/G

ET

TY

IMA

GE

S

GOALS

Target 7Halt and reverse thespread of HIV/AIDS

Target 8Halt and begin to

reverse the incidence of

malaria and otherdiseases

I t is now well recognized that genderinequality is one of the principal factorsthat is currently fuelling the HIV/AIDS

pandemic. Halting and reversing the spreadof HIV/AIDS depends on the success ofefforts to combat a series of deep-rootedand interconnected gender inequalities thathave, together, rendered women especially

vulnerable to the disease.Cultural norms of sexual ignorance and purity for women

block their access to information about prevention. Genderedpower imbalances make it difficult for women to negotiatesafer sexual practices with their partners, and economicdependence and fear of violence can effectively force themto consent to unprotected sex. Women are receiving inad-equate care and treatment both because it is being directlywithheld from them and because what is being provided isinaccessible and unsuited to their health needs. The bur-den of caring for their dependents and themselves hasbecome overwhelming, sinking families into poverty anddestitution, because women lack access to economicresources and are hardest hit by the lack of social support

6

Combat HIV/AIDS,

malaria and other

diseases


PH

OT

O B

YE

VA

RIS

TO

SA

--A

FP

/GE

TT

YIM

AG

ES

.

A public school studentprepares a giant boardcelebrating World AIDS

Day in Brasilia, Brazil.

GOAL

BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION■ Eliminate negative cultural attitudes

and practices against girls (strategicobjective L.2)

■ Take integrated measures to pre-vent and eliminate violence againstwomen (strategic objective D.1)

■ Promote women's economic rightsand independence, including accessto employment, appropriate workingconditions and control over economic resources (strategicobjective F.1)

■ Increase women's access through-out the life cycle to appropriate,affordable and quality health care,information and related services(strategic objective C.1)

■ Undertake gender-sensitive initia-tives to address sexually transmitteddiseases, HIV/AIDS and sexual andreproductive health issues (strategicobjective C.3)

■ Take measures to ensure women'sequal access to and full participationin power structures and decision-making (strategic objective G.1)

for those in need. Strategies to respond to the HIV/AIDS cri-sis have consistently failed to include a gender perspective,in large measure because women have not been placed atthe forefront of HIV/AIDS policy formulation.

WHAT CEDAW AND BEIJING REQUIREA wide range of CEDAW and Beijing provisions are appli-cable in efforts to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, inaddition to their specific provisions relating to health care.Because gender inequality and HIV/AIDS are interconnectedat so many different levels, the challenge of reversing thespread of the pandemic requires the implementation of mul-tiple provisions at the same time. Measures must be takenin the areas of women’s economic equality and empower-ment, equality in marriage and family relations, health-careservices, elimination of gender-based violence, transfor-mation of gender-based cultural stereotypes and enhance-ment of women’s political participation.

CEDAW ■ Eliminate social and cultural

stereotypes and practices based ongender inequality (article 5.a)

■ Eliminate all forms of gender-basedviolence against women (GeneralRecommendation #19)

■ Eliminate discrimination againstwomen to ensure the same rightsfor men and women in employment(article 11)

■ Ensure men and women the samelegal rights relating to contracts andproperty (article 15)

■ Ensure equality between men andwomen in marriage and family life(article 16)

■ Ensure women’s equal access tohealth-care services (article 12.1)

■ Avoid discrimination against womenin national strategies for the preven-tion and control of HIV/AIDS(General Recommendation #15)

■ Ensure women the right to participate in the formulation andimplementation of government policy and to hold public office andperform public functions at all levels of government (article 7.b)7

6GOAL


7 FOR A MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE MULTIPLEWAYS IN WHICH CEDAW APPLIES TO THE DIFFERENTGENDER DIMENSIONS OF THE HIVAIDS PANDEMIC, SEEUNIFEM, TURNING THE TIDE, 2001.

PH

OT

O B

YE

VA

RIS

TO

SA

--A

FP

/GE

TT

YIM

AG

ES

.

Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

PH

OT

O B

YM

AR

K H

EN

LE

Y--

PA

NO

S P

ICT

UR

ES

Because of gendered divisions oflabour, women in many parts of theworld shoulder the primary respon-

sibility for agricultural work, water and fuelcollection and providing food for their fam-ilies. Environmental degradation and lackof access to and control over natural

resources have consequently had an especially severeimpact on women. For example, due to forces that are reduc-ing access to supplies of clean water – pollution, privatiza-tion of water services, poor service delivery and increas-ing population pressures – the burden on women hasincreased dramatically. Poor women and children (mostoften girls) are travelling great distances from home in searchof water sources, which exposes them to violence, extendstheir already lengthy working days and limits the time theyhave to grow food and generate income. Girls may be forcedto drop out of school to assist in water collection. And thealternative many overburdened women are obliged to acceptis lower quality water, often contaminated ground water notnormally used for consumption, that threatens their families’health. Furthermore, where HIV/AIDS has entered the house-hold, lack of proper access to the water needed to care forfamily members can completely exhaust women’s capac-ity as caregivers and is speeding the deaths of peopleinfected with the disease.

Through their responsibilities in relation to key environ-mental resources, women have developed valuable knowl-edge about environmental sustainability and play central

Woman and daughter in field of sorghum close

to a power station inShanxi Province, China. 7GOAL

Ensure environmentalsustainability

Target 9Integrate the principles

of sustainable development into

country policies andprogrammes and

reverse the loss ofenvironmental

resources

Target 10Reduce by half the

proportion of peoplewithout sustainable

access to safe drinking water

Target 11Achieve significant

improvements in thelives of at least 100

million slumdwellers by 2020


7GOAL

roles in the life of their environments. However, genderinequalities and discrimination have deprived women of thenecessary decision-making power to take the steps thatwould help achieve Goal 7. In those countries in whichwomen’s right to land ownership has not been ensured, forexample, women are effectively denied access to the infor-mation, technologies and resources that would enable themto engage in more environmentally sustainable practices.As the Millennium Taskforce on the environment has noted,"when women lack the knowledge, means or authority tomanage the natural resources on which they directly depend,degradation of these resources is more likely to occur".7 Andthis lack of direct control over resources is mirrored at higherdecision-making levels, where women and their perspec-tives continue to be missing from all aspects of policy for-mulation and decision-making in natural resource and envi-ronmental management, conservation and monitoring.

WHAT CEDAW AND BEIJING REQUIREUnder CEDAW and Beijing, governments must ensure thatwomen – especially rural women – participate in all levelsof decision-making related to environmental sustainability,and that women’s concerns and perspectives are properlyreflected in all policies and approaches adopted.Furthermore, governments must ensure that women havethe access to and control over certain key environmentalresources, such as water and land, that is needed both toprotect women from the effects of environmental degrada-tion and to enable them to take the action needed to improvetheir environments.

CEDAW■ Take into account the particular

problems faced by rural women andthe significant roles that ruralwomen play in the economic survival of their families (article 14.1)

■ Ensure rural women’s right to participate in the elaboration andimplementation of developmentplanning at all levels (article 14.2.a)

■ Ensure that rural women haveaccess to agricultural credit andloans, marketing facilities, appropri-ate technology and equal treatmentin land and agrarian reform as wellas in land resettlement schemes(article 14.2.g)

■ Ensure that rural women enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing,sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communica-tions (article 14.2.h)

BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION■ Involve women actively in

environmental decision-making at all levels (strategic objective K.1)

■ Integrate gender concerns and perspectives in policies and programmes for sustainable devel-opment (strategic objective K.2)

■ Strengthen or establish mecha-nisms at national, regional andinternational levels to assess theimpact of development and environmental policies on women(strategic objective K.3)

Ensure environmental sustainability

7 MILLENNIUM PROJECT TASK FORCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, 2004: 16.


PH

OT

O B

YM

AR

K H

EN

LE

Y--

PA

NO

S P

ICT

UR

ES

T he inclusion of a goal for the devel-opment of a global partnership shoulddirect the attention of all development

partners to the broader economic and polit-ical environment in which countries arestruggling to achieve the MDGs. Unless allthose with global influence – including thegovernments composing international finan-

cial and trade institutions, donors and the UN system, aswell as the private sector – are very actively engaged insecuring an enabling environment for the MDGs, the via-bility of the entire enterprise is threatened. It is inevitablethat, whatever commitments national governments under-take to implement the changes mandated by the MDGs,they will remain unfulfilled if the needed resources and pol-icy-making flexibility are missing

Of particular concern is potential incoherence betweenstrategies required for achieving the MDGs and economicand trade policy-setting frameworks at national and globallevels, such as poverty reduction strategies. For example,if decisions taken at national and global levels in relationto subsidies effectively disadvantage poor women’s agri-cultural products, promote privatization schemes that pricewater out of poor women’s reach or shrink the pool ofOverseas Development Assistance (ODA) available fordevelopment cooperation, then even the best efforts at thenational level will not be sufficient to achieve the MDGs.

It should also be stressed that, even apart from theirresponsibilities under the MDGs, governments are alreadyobligated to promote women’s human rights and eliminatethe forms of gender inequality that have been highlighted in

8Residents of a slum in Mumbai, India.

Target 12Develop further an

open, rule-based, pre-dictable, non-discrimi-

natory trading andfinancial system

Target 17In cooperation with

pharmaceutical com-panies, provide accessto affordable essential

drugs in developingcountries

Target 18In cooperation withthe private sector,

make available thebenefits of new tech-nologies, especially

information and communication t

echnologies

Develop a global

partnership fordevelopment


PH

OT

O B

YR

OB

ER

TN

ICK

EL

SB

ER

G--

TIM

E L

IFE

PIC

TU

RE

S/G

ET

TY

IMA

GE

S

GOAL

8GOAL

BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION■ Review, adopt and maintain

macroeconomic policies and development strategies that addressthe needs and efforts of women inpoverty (strategic objective A.1)

■ Take measures to ensure women’sequal access to and full participationin power structures and decision-making (strategic objective G.1)

this document. For this reason as well, the broader eco-nomic and political positions they advance in internationalfora should always facilitate the realization of women’s humanrights rather than serving as an obstacle. Women’s lead-ership and the inclusion of a women’s human rights per-spective at the international level are critical to ensuring thatthe right decisions are taken.

WHAT CEDAW AND BEIJING REQUIRE Human rights experts have been paying increasing atten-

tion to the responsibilities that international financial andtrade institutions have under human rights standards suchas CEDAW. Among other things, they have pointed out thatgovernments do not just have obligations to their own citi-zens under human rights treaties. Governments who havevoting power within and provide funding to international finan-cial institutions are obliged to respect their human rightscommitments in this context as well. Beijing also explicitlycommits governments to take proper account of genderequality considerations in their activities at the internationallevel. In addition, both CEDAW and Beijing include strongprovisions requiring action to ensure that women, andwomen’s perspectives, play a central role in political deci-sion-making at all levels.

Develop a global partnership for development

CEDAW■ Ensure women the opportunity

to represent their governments atthe international level and to partici-pate in the work of international organizations (article 8)

■ Ensure women the right to participate in the formulation and implementation of government policy and to hold public office andperform public functions at all levelsof government (article 7.b)

■ Ensure women’s right to participatein non-governmental organizationsand associations concerned with thepublic and political life of the country(article 7.c)

■ Ensure rural women’s right to participate in the elaboration andimplementation of developmentplanning at all levels (article 14.2.a)


PH

OT

O B

YR

OB

ER

TN

ICK

EL

SB

ER

G--

TIM

E L

IFE

PIC

TU

RE

S/G

ET

TY

IMA

GE

S


Electronic resources

CEDAW concluding comments and government reports for each country can be found at:http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw

The CEDAW Committee’s General Recommendations can be found at:http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/recommendations.htm

Summaries of the CEDAW sessions for each country can be found at:http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord2003/index.htm

Country reports on follow-up measures taken to Beijing and Beijing +5 can be found at:http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/Review/responses.htm

Documents relating to Beijing +5 can be found at:http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/followup/beijing+5.htm

Documents relating to Beijing +10 can be found at:http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/49sess.htm

The reports of the Millennium Taskforces can be found at:http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/html/docs%20and%20reports.shtm

National MDG reports can be found at:http://www.undp.org/mdg/country_regionalreports.html

A wide range of resources on gender equality and the MDGs can be found at:http://www.mdgender.net/

Bibliography

Millennium Project Task Force on Child Health and Maternal Health. 2004. Interim Report. NewYork: Millennium Project. http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/html/tf4docs.shtm

Millennium Project Task Force on Education and Gender Equality. 2004. Interim Report: FromPromises to Action: Recommendations for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.New York: Millennium Project. http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/html/tf3docs.shtm

Millennium Project Task Force on Environmental Sustainability. 2004. Interim Report. New York:Millennium Project.http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/html/tf6docs.shtm

Millennium Project Task Force on Poverty and Economic Development. 2004. Interim Report:An Enhanced Strategy for Reducing Poverty by the Year 2015. New York: Millennium Project.http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/html/tf1docs.shtm

United Nations Development Fund for Women. 2002. Progress of the World’s Women 2002:Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals. New York: UNIFEM.http://www.unifem.org/index.php?f_page_pid=10

United Nations Development Fund for Women. 2001. Turning the Tide: CEDAW and theGender Dimensions of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic. New York: UNIFEM. http://www.unifem.org/index.php?f_page_pid=33

United Nations Development Programme. 2003. Human Development Report 2003. New York:Oxford University Press.http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2003/

United Nations Development Programme. 2003. Millennium Development Goals: NationalReports Through a Gender Lens. New York: UNDP. http://www.mdgender.net/resources/monograph_detail.php?MonographID=8

Women’s Environment and Development Organization. 2004. Women’s Empowerment, GenderEquality and the Millennium Development Goals: A WEDO Information and Action Guide. NewYork: WEDO. http://www.wedo.org/

Bibliography

Women’s Environment and Development Organization. 2003. Common Ground: Women’sAccess to Natural Resources and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. NewYork: WEDO. http://www.wedo.org/

Women’s International Coalition for Economic Justice. 2004. Seeking Accountability onWomen’s Human Rights: Women Debate the UN Millennium Development Goals. Mumbai: TheInformation Company. http://www.wicej.addr.com/mdg/index.html

World Bank Gender and Development Group. 2003. Gender Equality and the MillenniumDevelopment Goals. Washington, D.C.: World Bank. http://www.worldbank.org/gender/

Bibliography (continued)


United Nations Development Fund forWomen (UNIFEM)304 East 45th Street, 15th FloorNew York, NY 10017USATel: (212) 906-6400Fax: (212) 906-6705E-mail: [email protected]: www.unifem.org.

Federal Ministry for EconomicCooperation and Development (BMZ)Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 40D - 53113 Bonn GermanyWebsite: www.bmz.de

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)GmbHPostfach 5180D - 65726 EschbornGermanyWebsite: www.gtz.de/women_law

Designer: Kathi RotaPhoto Editor: Susan AckermanCopy Editor: Tina JohnsonPrinter: Kay Printing

T h e M i l l e n n i u mDeclaration and theMillennium Develop-ment Goals (MDGs)have opened a newdoor for the advance-ment of gender equal-ity. Used to their best potential, the MDGs canbe the means by which the insidious linkagebetween gender inequalities, the waste anddestruction of women’s human potential, and the seemingly endless reproduction ofpoverty is brought into sharp focus, and finallyovercome.

As Pathway to Gender Equality outlines, theConvention on the Elimination of all Forms ofDiscrimination against Women (CEDAW), andthe Beijing Fourth World Conference on Womenmust be our touchstones for realizing the potential held out by the MDGs. The wealthof understanding and experience of the natureof gender-based discrimination and the stepsneeded to achieve gender equality that hasbeen generated through the CEDAW andBeijing processes stands waiting to be tapped.By using CEDAW and Beijing as the lensthrough which the gender equality dimensionsof the MDGs are understood and addressed,principled conviction and development effectiveness can be brought together in a powerful way.