The Characteristics Of Gender Inequality And Human Development

Inequality is defined as the “quality of being unequal or uneven”, Merriam-Webster (1828) albeit social discrepancy, economic disparity, political variations or anything else. Gender inequality is the notion that women and men are not equal. It refers to the imbalanced treatment of a person based on what their gender is. The ‘United Nations Development Programme’ have recognised that though “major strides” have been made in the fight for gender equality, the struggle that women and girls face when they are discriminated against in “health, education, political representation, labour market, etc is a major barrier to human development”, (UNDP Human Development Reports, 2016).

Gender inequality exists. Women are to this day, still oppressed under the shadow of men. Girls growing up, are told by the world what to be, who to be, how to be. The distinct,

Rather, there are different characteristics of gender inequality. The World Bank claims that an estimated “130 million girls globally” are not in school, and that developing countries show less percentages of gender parity being achieved at primary and secondary level education than developed countries however, developed countries still haven’t achieved gender parity because there is still gender bias in secondary and higher level education, (2017). Access to education and the development of girls and women’s potential, can be the difference between life and death. Ensuring the right of quality education, for all, is number four on the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ set up by the United Nations (2016). And so, without ensuring gender equity in education, the world’s health and development goals cannot be reached. Educating girls and ensuring that that they receive education not only empowers them, but makes them more productive and thus wind up making a huge contribution to