Gender Equality Essay

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What I Have Learned About Gender Equality Gender equality is most definitely a basic human right; however, “gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society” (UN, 2011) today. A project that is attempting to improve gender equality is Millennium Development Goal number three, which is aimed at promoting gender equality and empowering women. However, the UN (2011) states that this millennium development goal cannot be reached if 50% of the world’s people are not afforded equal rights and opportunities. Hillary Clinton (2014) states, “the role and rights of women, their freedom, equality and dignity is the unfinished business of the 21st century.” The themes that will be explored in this paper are the need to empower women, education, and reproductive health. My learning on gender equality has been substantial, and ultimately makes me want to promote positive change for women throughout the world. I believe that it is essential to see women as a cardinal part of the society of which they live in, as they make up 50% of the world today. Millennium Development Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women This international development goal is to expand women’s opportunities by providing them with the rights that they are entitled to (World Bank, 2011). The World Bank (2011) states that it is essential to empower women and girls by: improving education, increase literacy rates, increase early childhood development intercessions, increase women’s labor force participation, improve women’s access to financial resources, ending gender based violence, promote women’s political rights, and lastly, to improve reproductive health. In achieving these goals, gender equality can exist by the year 2015. The Need for Empowerme... ... middle of paper ... ... 2014 “too many women face far too much discrimination and violence” (New York Daily News, 2014). UNIDO (n.d) state that millennium development goal number three cannot be achieved without closing the gaps between women and men. In closing the gaps, we must empower women by providing them with education, accessibility to reproductive health, and lastly, engage men in promoting gender equality for women (WHO, 2014). I agree greatly with Hillary Clinton’s quote that is “human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights” (New York Daily News, 2014). Gender equality is a basic human right; however, in 2014 “gender inequalities [still] remain deeply entrenched in every society” (UN, 2011). The world has had numerous achievements thus far; however, gender equality still “remains the great unfinished business of the 21st century” (New York Times, 2014).

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