Download Definition of gender equality

Gender and Development in the
Middle East & North Africa:
Women in the Public Sphere
Nadereh Chamlou
Senior Advisor, MENA
Cairo. June 10, 2004
Introduction
• Purpose of the book: Advance the gender debate by
analyzing impact of gender inequality on the growth
and development of MENA countries.
• Scope of the analysis: Focus on issues of female
labor force participation as an important component of
gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Definition of gender equality: Equality under the law,
equality of access to opportunity, and equality of
voice.
Main Messages
• MNA countries invested significantly in women’s
education & health but still low female labor force
participation.
• Women face inequality in the public sphere and have a
low FLFP which has high costs.
• Gender issues are ultimately about increasing the
productivity and competitiveness of economies of te
region and must be central to the overall policy
reform.
Three Pervasive Myths
1. It is lack of education that is keeping the
MNA woman behind.
2. More women in the labor force will
increase unemployment and take away
jobs from men.
3. In MNA culture, women do not need or
want to work outside the home.
The MENA woman is beginning to be as educated as the MENA Man
The MENA Region has invested significantly in social sectors and
achieved impressive results:
The MENA woman is as educated as her peers in other parts of
the world
Progress in social indicators -- Shortfall in empowerment indicators
Empirical evidence does not support the claim that
women’s increased labor force participation increases
unemployment
MENA’s low female labor force participation has a
high cost to society and families.
High cost of living provides no longer a choice for
women but to work outside the home – work is
increasingly a necessity for the family to survive
The highest dependency ratio in the world.
Ratio of 2:1, compared with East Asia, where it is nearly 1:1.
MENA FLFP accelerated over 1980-2000, reaching 5% in the
1990s, but still remains lowest among all regions
MENA is utilizing only a fraction of its potential – more needs to
be done to increase the demand side for women’s FLFP
Female unemployment is highest among the more educated and
women leave the labor force when married and with children.
Lower FLFP has high social and economic costs that can no
longer be ignored
• Lower family income
• Egypt 25%, Jordan 20%, Morocco 17%
• Women’s work is increasingly the ticket between poverty and middle
class.
• It is also an important source of income for expenditures on better
education and health of next generation.
• Lower per capita GDP growth
• For a subset of countries, GDP could have been 2.6% instead of 1.9%
with greater female participation in labor force.
• Translates into billions of dollars of lost opportunity for the region.
Factors impacting women’s labor force
participation in MENA
• Historical: Growth Policies Of The Past
» The oil legacy
» Public investment policies did not increase significantly the demand
for women’s labor beyond traditional education and health sectors
• Economic: Low Growth affects both men and women
» High unemployment pushes women more out than men
» A host of micro-inequities in labor market laws/regulation (plus
spotty enforcement) create uneven playing for women
• Social: The “Gender Paradigm”
» Centrality of the family – defining roles in traditional ways
» Male breadwinner model – influencing spirit and implementation of
laws
» Code of modesty – conditionality of access to public sphere 
importance of physical and reputational safety
» Inequality in the private sphere – intra-household decision relations
affect access to public sphere
What needs to be done – next steps
• Advocate that gender equality is not just for the sake of
women but as central to promoting growth,
employment, social security and family welfare.
• Integrate gender agenda into the ‘New Development
Model’ for the region (as advocated by other MNA
reports). Key actions to center on:
• Consistency between constitutional rights and ordinary legislation.
• Regulation to create a level playing field for men and women in the
workplace.
• Education enhancement to create marketable skills.
• Investments in infrastructure to support women’s work and family
duties.