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Date Added to
Site: 25th April 2006 |
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Short Summary
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| Title |
Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: A Critical
Analysis of the Third Millennium Development Goal |
| Author |
Kabeer, N. |
| Publication
Date |
March 2005 |
| Publisher |
Oxfam |
| Volume |
Gender and Development |
| Series |
13:1 |
| Donor |
Oxfam |
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Short Summary |
This paper discusses the third Millennium Development
Goal (MDG) on gender equality and women's empowerment and highlights
ways in which the indicators associated with this goal - women's access
to education, share of non-agricultural wage employment, and political
participation - can contribute to women's empowerment. Each of these
indicators has the potential to bring about immediate changes in women's
lives, along with long-term transformations in patriarchal power structures.
But unless provision is made to ensure that policy changes are implemented
in ways that allow women themselves to participate, monitor, and hold
policy makers and corporations accountable for their actions, the
potential for women's empowerment will be limited. For example, while
women's access to education may improve their chances of a good marriage,
unless it also provides them with the courage to question unjust practices
its potential for change will be limited. Similarly, while women's
access to paid work may give them a greater sense of self-reliance
and greater purchasing power, if it is undertaken in conditions that
damage women's health its costs may outweigh its benefits. The question,
therefore, is to what extent the international community is prepared
to provide support for women at the grassroots - support which will
ensure that they have the collective capacities necessary to participate
in the policy process.
To obtain copies of this article contact Oxfam - Gender and Development
journal, 274 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DZ, UK, Tel: +44 (0)870 333
2700, Email: csweetman@oxfam.co.uk. Or visit: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
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| Summary Source |
Adapted from author |
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