06 October 2016 - Gender equality discussions often engage mainly women, but actually men have a crucial role to play. In order to achieve gender equality, we need to be committed to address challenges for both sides. While most gender inequalities disadvantage women, there are also important issues to address that primarily affect men, ranging from higher suicide rates to lower levels of achievement in education and lower engagement in caring for children and other household duties.
“Everything we do has a gender perspective: we look at the different challenges, experiences and opportunities for women and men to access resources and use their potential”, explains Virginija Langbakk, EIGE’s Director. “This does not mean that the focus on the situation of women can be lessened, but it’s about having a more effective approach to the different challenges facing both genders”.
In many areas, women and men face very different challenges. For example, in the area of education women have already reached the educational targets set out in the Europe 2020 Strategy, which aim to decrease the school drop-out rates to below 10% and raise the number of 30-34 year-olds completing third level education to at least 40%. However, men are still lagging behind. Statistics show that in the EU-28 on average, there are significantly less men than women aged 30-34 with a tertiary degree (34% vs 43%) and more men are leaving school early (12% of men vs 10% of women). Unless the reasons behind these gaps are understood and addressed, Europe will struggle to reach its 2020 educational targets.
IFPRI – International Food Policy Research Institute
http://www.ifpri.org/publication/global-economic-slowdown-implications-rural-poor
IFAD – International Fund for Agricultural Development
https://www.ifad.org/newsroom/press_release/tags/p53/y2016/29999915
“This study shows that the gains we have made in rural poverty reduction in the past 25 years are seriously jeopardized by the recent economic slowdown,” said Rui Benfica, Lead Economist with the Research and Impact Assessment Division at IFAD. "If we want to eradicate extreme poverty, we have to focus our investments on rural areas where the majority of poor people live.”
Girls worldwide spend a disproportionate amount of time on household chotres compared to boys, a UNICEF report released Friday said. The children depicted are in a a Gaza refugee camp. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/ UPI
UNICEF REPORT: HARNESSING THE POWER OF DATA FOR GIRLS – 20 Pages – 2016
Direct Link to Full 24-Page Malala Fund Document:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/malala-fund/All+Factsheets+Updated.pdf
Plan International UK and Plan International commissioned this report to clarify and develop a conceptualisation of adolescence during emergencies and to summarise the data available on adolescents in humanitarian settings. The report provides evidence, useful programming tips and key recommendations to strengthen our targeting of adolescents during emergencies.
https://plan-international.org/publications/time-transition-adolescents-humanitarian-settings
