As Women Progress in Developing Nations, so do Those Countries' Economies (Christian Science Monitor)
August 4, 2008
The Christian Science Monitor quotes CGD vice president for programs and operations, and senior fellow Ruth Levine on the Girls Count report.
From the article:
"Decades of international and domestic efforts to speed development in more than 100 poor countries shows that, as the title of a recent study puts it, 'Girls Count.'
Ruth Levine, an analyst with the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C., and one of the authors of 'Girls Count,' sees increasingly 'positive rhetoric' regarding the role of women in development. Jordan's Queen Rania gave the matter attention at the Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland earlier this year. Former President Bill Clinton is raising the issue at his Global Initiative.
But, Ms. Levine says, discrimination again women is 'ingrained in society' in many countries. 'There is just a lot of discrimination and cultural and economic obstacles" to the advancement of women. Those obstacles, she says, include early marriage and a macho attitude of many men. One girl in 7 in developing countries marries before age 15, and nearly half of all girls are expected to marry by age 20. This is most common in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Her study points out that 1 person in 8 in the world is a girl or young woman age 10 to 24. The size of this group in developing nations will peak over the next 10 years. The study also lists many challenges for women.
'In many places girls and young women do not enjoy the basic rights of voting, cannot inherit land, are subject to female genital cutting, and do not have the right to stop unwanted sexual advances or gain justice,' the study said. 'Yet it is only through major and sustained improvements in the condition of girls that the world will reach its goals.'
'Most important,' it continues, 'girls matter because they are human beings. Girls have equal rights to human dignity, self-determination, freedom from violence, good health, education, and participation in economic and political life.'"