Gender inequality matters to development for two reasons:-

First, it is a justice problem. Ideologies of women’s inferiority are used to justify serious human rights abuses including female infanticide, child marriage, female genital mutilation, sexual violence, and deprivation of equal access to health care, education, property, employment and pay.

Second, gender inequality is developmentally inefficient. Women’s limited access to and control of material resources and limited decision-making power within the household can produce high fertility rates, under-investment in aspects of family welfare such as child nutrition and education, and sub-optimal allocations of human capital in the economy.

Constraints on women’s and girls’ education, access to health care (especially in relation to pregnancy and childbirth), independent livelihoods, and control of property and income contribute to underdevelopment and state fragility… read more