Australia’s efforts to reduce gender disparities in developing countries have been boosted today with the release of the aid program’s new policy, Gender equality in Australia’s aid program-why and how.
The policy builds on more than a decade’s work, and over $500 million in direct investment by the Government, through our overseas aid agency, AusAID, in programs that have helped to overcome economic and social disadvantage, particularly amongst women and marginalised groups.
Women in the developing world are particularly disadvantaged. They make up two-thirds of the 800 million people in the world who lack basic literacy skills; girls are still twice as likely as boys to die from malnutrition and preventable diseases and half a million women die each year from complications during pregnancy.
In the Asia Pacific region, women have less access to paid employment than men and in most areas unemployment rates are higher among young women than men. Women remain under-represented in public office. In the Pacific in particular, women hold on average just three per cent of seats in national parliaments and an average of 19 per cent in East Asia.
The White Paper on our overseas aid program which I released last year, places gender equality front and centre in the effort to reduce poverty and increase the effectiveness of aid. The new gender policy outlines how Australia will support partner countries to achieve greater gender equality over the next 10 years.
We will support economic policies helping both women and men to access resources such as land and other assets, financial services, technology, training and markets.
We will assist with efforts to strengthen women’s leadership capacity so that women’s needs and ideas are reflected through policies and in development programs.
We will continue to assist education systems that reduce gender disparities in primary and secondary education; support programs promoting equal access to vocational and technical education and provide scholarships so that women can increase their opportunities to work and earn an income.
Australia will assist organisations that promote regional cooperation against people trafficking and support women’s efforts at peace-building in conflict areas.