United Nations Development Fund for Women: New progress report on women in the world 2008–2009

December 15, 2008

UNIFEM’s biennial flagship report ‘Progress of the World’s Women 2008/2009: Who Answers to Women? Gender & Accountability’shows that realising women’s rights and achieving the Millennium Development Goals depends on strengthening accountability for commitments to women and gender equality.

The publication presents clear evidence that women's empowerment and gender equality are drivers for reducing poverty, building food security, reducing maternal mortality, safeguarding the environment, and enhancing the effectiveness of aid.

One of its main findings is that service delivery that responds to women's needs is the litmus test of government accountability. In sub-Saharan Africa women spend 40 billion hours each year collecting water - the equivalent of a year's worth of labour by the entire workforce of France. Globally, maternal mortality is declining at a rate of just 0.4% a year - compared to the 5.5% needed to meet MDG 5. Health services are often too distant and too costly to access, agricultural services are geared towards male farmers, and government services are sometimes based on the assumption that the applicant is an employed, literate or propertied man.

For more information and access to the full report, visit: www.unifem.org/progress/2008