The Domino Effect: Gender Equality

IMPACT: UN Women is a young organization and you will play an important role in setting its agenda in these early years. What would you like to see the organization accomplish in its first five years?

LAKSHMI PURI: UN Women – United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women – is charged with advancing gender equality. By establishing UN Women through a General Assembly resolution, countries have strongly committed to support gender equality and to invest in it. In the next few years, we would like to see the widespread support that established UN Women – from member states, women’s movements, UN system, partners and donors – come together and transform its priorities and mandates into concrete advancement for gender equality at the international and national levels.

IMPACT: This year the world’s population reaches 7 billion, with much of that population growth happening in low- and middle-income countries. How has such rapid growth in those countries affected gender equality?

LP: Gender inequalities are both a cause and an effect of population growth. For instance, high fertility rates often lead to larger families, reduced opportunities for women to join the labor force, and shorter birth intervals, which can have devastating effects on both maternal and child health.

Interlinked and very important to point out is that gender inequality fuels population growth. Where women are denied full legal, social and economic rights, such as education, secure livelihoods, property ownership and credit, they are forced to rely on childbearing for survival, status and security.

At societal levels, higher population growth increases the pressure on natural resources, food productivity and the need for investments in social services. Women and girls have less access to education and productive resources than men, and with increased competition, they lose out even more. I am particularly concerned about the least developed countries since they are experiencing the fastest growth rate, in spite of high levels of mortality.

IMPACT: India's fertility rate – while still high by Western standards – is on the decline. What can countries with very high fertility rates learn from India's experience, specifically in regard to its management of gender issues and the promotion of gender equality?

LP: In India, better education and family planning have been important priorities for the government. From 1965 to 2009, contraceptive usage more than tripled and fertility rates more than halved. A good part of the fertility decline occurred in the southern states, which generally have higher rates of literacy and education, along with greater equality for women.

Mounting evidence shows that in the context of developing countries like India, the decision on contraceptive acceptance is often shaped at the community level; therefore, it’s necessary to tap into the power of the community to attain social change while continuing to build individual or household capacity. This is true not only in the case of contraceptive acceptance but also in several other developmental issues. Globally, a combination of international family planning programs, growing prosperity and better education of women is widely credited with reducing fertility rates worldwide.

IMPACT: Peacebuilding in conflict zones is a core priority of UN Women. Tell us about UN Women's strategy behind stabilizing conflict zones. What is the link between empowering women and stabilizing these areas?

LP: From Nepal to Afghanistan to Sudan, war harms women in multiple ways – from mass rapes to mass displacements. Women are on the frontlines of wars. In the aftermath, it is, however, women who bring families, homes and communities back together. Yet their roles and rights continue to be overlooked at peace talks. Since 1992, less than 10 percent of peace negotiators have been women; less than 6 percent of reconstruction budgets specifically provide for the needs of women and girls.

UN Women's focus in relation to post-conflict contexts prioritizes increasing women's security, particularly in relation to protection from sexual violence, investing in empowerment and securing women's participation in all peacekeeping, peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction efforts. We know that targeting women and girls for education, employment and health care can have a transformative impact – a multiplier effect – on the well-being and productivity of families, communities and societies in general.