Development: Article: The Empowerment Of Women And Development

Empowerment of Women and Development

By Mahmudul Hasan

Empowerment of women is increasingly being recognized as a prerequisite for advancing development and reducing poverty in several international instruments. The gender equality was included as one of the eight Millennium Development Goals. The outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held (“Rio+20”) entitled “The future we want” states that “gender equality and the effective participation of women are important for effective action on all aspects of sustainable development”. World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 1995 26(o) recognizes that empowering people, particularly women, to strengthen their own capacities is a main objective of development

When women are empowered, whole families benefit, and these benefits often have ripple effects to future generations. Where women’s status is low, family size tends to be large, which makes it more difficult for families to thrive. The empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of their political, social, economic and health status is a highly important not only as an end in itself but also a means for development. In addition, it is essential for the achievement of sustainable development. The full participation and partnership of both women and men is required in productive and reproductive life, including shared responsibilities for the care and nurturing of children and maintenance of the household. Population, development and reproductive health programmes are more effective when they address the educational opportunities, status and empowerment of

Human rights and human development share a preoccupation with necessary outcomes for improving people’s lives. According to the Human Development Report 2000, “Human development and human rights are close enough in motivation and concern to be compatible and congruous, and they are different enough in strategy and design to supplement each other fruitfully”. Human rights and development both aim to promote well-being and freedom, based on the inherent dignity and equality of all people. If sustainable economic development and the eradication of poverty are to be achieved, economic growth has to be combined with the concept of human development and respect for human rights. Central to the rights-based approach is the norm of gender equality, which resists, rather than accommodates, relativist approaches to the interpretation of human