10 Gender Role Quotes in the Developing World

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Gender inequality is a major concern in many developing countries. Women are sometimes still viewed as inferior to men and are often not given equal opportunities.  Gender inequality is not only delaying the progress of women in education and in the workplace, but it has also been proven to impede a nation’s overall economic development.  Here are some thought-provoking gender role quotes in the developing world:

1. “Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.” – Kofi Annan

2. “Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to learn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability.” – Sandra Day O’Connor 

3. “Compared to income or assets in the hands of men, income or assets in the hands of women is associated with larger improvements in child health, and larger expenditure shares of household nutrients, health, and housing.” – Esther Duflo 

4. “Empowering women in the developing world is crucial for greater equality between the sexes.” – European Commission

5. “Blocking women and girls from getting skills and earnings to succeed in a globalized world is not only wrong, but also economically harmful.” – Justin Yifu Lin

6. “Sharing the fruits of growth and globalization equally between men and women is essential to meeting key development goals.” – Justin Yifu Lin

7. “Equality is not just the right thing to do. It’s smart economics. How can an economy achieve full potential if it ignores, sidelines, or fails to invest in half its population?” –Robert Zoellick

8. “Gender inequality holds back the growth of individuals, the development of countries and the evolution of societies, to the disadvantage of both men and women.” – State of World Population Report

9. “As long as women face violence and discrimination, our efforts to eradicate poverty, achieve equality, and advance human rights and democracy will not succeed.” –Michelle Bachelet

10. “Much more must be done to combat discriminatory gender norms. In developed and developing countries alike, inegalitarian practices and beliefs expose women and girls to physical, sexual, and emotional violence while simultaneously stunting their own and their societies’ economic potential.” –Jordan Bernhardt

Other gender role quotes in the developing world can be found on www.brainyquote.com and www.goodreads.com/quotes.

– Allison Johnson

 

Read global poverty quotes.

Sources: Brainy Quote, The Atlantic, American Progress, Reuters, The Economist
Photo: Wikipedia

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CGI Tackles Maternal Health in Peru

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In September 2013, the Clinton Foundation’s Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting, with the Batey Relief Alliance, introduced a commitment to improving malnutrition and maternal health in Lima, Peru. The meeting brings together leaders from all around the world to help brainstorm, create, and implement innovative solutions for some of the world’s most concerning challenges.

According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 3 of deaths, of children ages five and under, is caused by malnutrition. Micronutrients, therefore, are essential for good health. Lacking proper amounts of micronutrients, specifically during pregnancy, can result in serious health issues.

Working with the Peruvian Ministry of Health, Caritas-Lima, and Vitamin Angels, the Batey Relief Alliance will train and send  150 Community Health Promoters to dispense multivitamins, Vitamin A, and anti-worm medicines on a quarterly basis for two years to schools, medical clinics, and community centers alike.

“This is a serious issue we are committed to addressing in Peru, where 34.8% of Peruvians live below the poverty line and maternal mortality death is 98 deaths per every 100,000 births, the majority of which are due to micronutrient deficiency,” said Ulrick Gillard, founder and CEO of the Batey Relief Alliance.

Batey Relief Alliance’s Health Promoters will also educate entire communities about health crises and further prevention techniques. Hopefully, in two years, the Alliance will improve the health and lives of about 2,000 children and 450 pregnant or nursing women.

– Sonia Aviv

Sources: Reuters, World News
Photo: World Bank

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UN Women and the Fight for Equality

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UN Women is an organization that was created in July 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly. The organization’s full name is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women; its mission is to promote gender equality throughout the world and champion women from all walks of life.

Many women in the world face discrimination in the workplace, and receive fewer opportunities when it comes to career and educational advancement. UN Women sees this kind of gender discrimination happening all over the world, and makes it a part of its agenda to ensure that women have basic and equal human rights. Women are often denied access to health care, and even worse, they lack the political voice to change such conditions because of their stark under-representation in governmental decision making.

One of the major issues on the UN Women’s agenda is the end to violence against women. In a 2013 global review, published by the World Health Organization, it was reported that 35 percent of women in the world have experienced some kind of violence from an intimate partner. UN Women also focuses on the different aspects that are associated with violence against women: sex trafficking, child brides, rape, and sexual harassment in the work or education place.

Partnering with government agencies is an effective way that UN Women is able to take action against the various forms of discrimination against women. UN Women channels its efforts on implementing laws that will help protect women against threats like violence. It also advocates for policies that will open up more economic opportunities for women.

The wage gap between men and women is something that UN Women takes very seriously and seeks to bring to a close by implementing policies that argue for fairness in the workplace. A large part of the organization’s mission to empower women comes from its dedication to spread awareness in response to the AIDS epidemic. Women make up 54 percent of all people living in the world with HIV. UN Women has made it a job to spread awareness on the factors connected to the spread of HIV/AIDS. With the help of its partners, and resources UN Women has been able to broadcast the voice of women living with AIDS and it takes steps to help prevent the spread of the disease.

UN Women is gaining momentum and acquiring more support. Actress, Nicole Kidman, showed her support for the organization during an acceptance speech at the Variety Magazine Power of Women Awards event. Kidman encouraged her audience to see the desperate need for women’s equality in the world.

– Chante Owens

Sources: UN Women, Daily Mail

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5 Great Female Writers on Giving Back

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This author’s previous post illuminated philanthropic quotes from five of the greatest male writers of our times. Here, we introduce to you five great female writers and what they have to say about giving back:

So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind,
Is all this sad world needs

—Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Wilcox was an American poet whose style was simple, but the meanings therein were often profound. Some of her great works include Poems of Passion, A Woman of the World, and Poems of Peace.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.

—Maya Angelou, As a writer, poet, and a significant member of the Civil Rights Activists during the 1960s, Angelou is perhaps most known for her autobiographies, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Other famous works include Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die, The Heart of a Woman, and Letter to My Daughter.

As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.

―Mary Anne Radmacher. Radmacher is a writer and artist, and teaches writing seminars. She is best known for Lean Forward into Your Life, and Live Boldly.

No one has ever become poor by giving.

—Anne Frank. While hiding with her family from the Nazis during World War II with another family in Amsterdam, she kept a diary which was discovered after her death in a Nazi concentration camp. Her diary, The Diary of a Young Girl, is well known across the world as the heartbreaking memoir of a young girl’s transition into adolescence and an attempt at understanding an adulthood she’d never reach.

Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.

—J.K. Rowling, a writer with a rags-to-riches story, is not one who needs to be convinced of the importance of giving back. After making it to the list of richest people in the world in 2011, Rowling managed to donate so much money that she failed to make it to the list in 2012. Along with her multi-faceted fantasy Harry Potter novels, JKR is known for The Casual Vacancy, and The Cuckoo’s Calling, which was written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

– Aalekhya Malladi

Sources: GoodReads, Poetry Foundation, Telegraph
Photo: HTML Giant

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Global Citizen Festival Builds Awareness for World Poverty

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Music is a powerful medium that spreads messages cross borders, cultures, and language barriers. Music is something people absolutely love and over which they get passionate. In addition to music’s utility of the auditory sense, live music provides for engagement of all the senses. What better environment to raise consciousness about an important cause, than when the audience is voluntarily, and ultimately thoroughly, engaged in the message being sent to them?

The cause to which I am referring is Global Poverty Project, an international education and advocacy humanitarian organization working to end global poverty. The Global Poverty Project is an Australian-based organization led by Hugh Evans–a man who has become a significant voice for the movement.

Global Citizen is an awareness raising online platform, which allows users to earn points by sharing information. In turn, users earn points, and can use their points to bid on live entertainment events, such as Global Citizen Festival.

The Global Citizen Festival takes place in Central Park in New York City. The 2nd Global Citizen Festival took place on September 28, 2013. The Global Citizens Tickets initiative motivated most of the concertgoers to earn their tickets by raising awareness about global poverty.

The concert is presented by Cotton on Foundation, an organization which has notably built the best performing schools in Uganda and has contributed significantly to educational needs in Africa.

According to the Global Citizen Festival website, more progress has been made over the past thirteen years than ever before. Amazingly, the end of poverty is within reach. The Global Poverty Project is based on four main goals: education, health, women’s equality, and global partnerships. The project understands change can only occur if world leaders are notified and asked to support these goals.

According to the site, 57 million children are denied basic schooling services. The goal is to provide schooling by 2015. In the health sector, the main goal is to have 1 million quality community health workers by 2015. The project’s women equality goal is to recognize women’s and girls’ equality as a priority and take measures to support that equality. Goals involving global partnership emphasize gathering support from public and private organizations in a commitment to end global poverty by 2030.

The 2nd annual Global Citizen Festival was a success. Well-known artists John Mayer, Kings of Leon, Alicia Keys, and Stevie Wonder headlined the five-and-a-half hour concert. Notably, this year, the project campaigned for policy changes in the core areas of education, women’s equality, and reproductive health.

– Laura Reinacher

Sources: Global Citizen, New York Times, Forbes
Photo: NY Daily News