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What do "Gender Issues" refer
to?
Gender
issues refer to any aspect governing the lives of women and men as well as
relations between them. Gender issues must be integrated into all
national policies to achieve equitable development for women and men.
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Gender issues
worldwide
In
1995, the Beijing Platform for Action recognized a set of priority gender
issues, or areas of critical concern, for the advancement of women and the
achievement of equality between women and men. These areas of concern are:
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Women and poverty
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Inequalities and inadequacies in
and unequal access to education and training
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Inequalities and inadequacies in
and unequal access to health care and related services
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Violence against women
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Effects of armed conflict, or
any conflict, including foreign occupation, on women
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Inequality in economic
structures and policies and unequal access to resources
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Inequality in power sharing and
decision-making at all levels
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Insufficient mechanisms at all
levels to promote the advancement of women
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Lack or respect for and
inadequate promotion and protection of women’s human rights
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Stereotyping of women and
inequality in women’s access to and participation in all communication
systems, especially in the media
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Gender inequalities in the
management of natural resources and in safeguarding the environment
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Persistent discrimination
against and violation of the rights of the girl-child
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Gender
issues in the Arab countries
Countries
participating in GSP regional workshops identified priority gender issues
that need to be incorporated in national policies. These gender issues were
identified in relation to current gender policy goals as well as objectives
that future national programmes may assume.
Priority gender issues in the Arab countries are categorized under four
main headings:
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Economic life
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Unfavorable
labour market conditions due to low economic activity and cultural
stereotypes that preference males
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Limited
opportunities for career promotions
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Wage
discrimination
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Sexual
division of labour within the home and market place (women segregation
and job feminization)
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Prevalence
of women working in the informal sector and extent of under-counting of
women’s work by conventional measures
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Education
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Socio-cultural
heritage that reinforces gender discrimination within the home
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Female
drop-out rate from the educational system and its augmentation among
women
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Priority
for men in training and acquiring experience
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Health
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Domestic
violence, violence against women and female circumcision, and the need to
eradicate them through education and enforceable legislation
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Law
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Prevalence
of discriminatory legislation concerned with inheritance, marriage
divorce and pension collection
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Inadequate
implementation of existing legislation due to lack of enforcement
mechanisms or bureaucratic inefficiencies
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Absence
of measures and procedures conferring financial benefits or social
security for the least fortunate groups in society, often girls and women
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Absence
of measures curtailing child labour
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Existence
of legislation inhibiting men/children to acquire the nationality of the
wife/mother
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Media representation
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Limited
participation of women in radio and TV productions, possibly leading to
biased messages being transmitted to the public
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