Women have an enormous impact on the well-being of their families and societies – yet their potential is not realized because of discriminatory social norms, incentives, and legal institutions. And while their status has improved in recent decades, gender inequalities remain pervasive. 

Gender inequality starts early and keeps women at a disadvantage throughout their lives. In some countries, infant girls are less likely to survive than infant boys because of parental discrimination and neglect – even though biologically infant girls should survive in greater numbers. Girls are more likely to drop out of school and to receive less education than boys because of discrimination, education expenses, and household duties.                                

Target Target 4 Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and to all levels of education no later than 2015.

Regional charts on girls' enrollment at school  Gender disparity in school enrollment Gender disparity in labor market Gender disparity in decision-making positions Map on ratio of girls to boys schooling

The differences between boys’ and girls’ schooling are greatest in regions with the lowest primary school completion rates and lowest average incomes. In Sub-Saharan Africa the ratio of girls’ to boys’ enrollments in primary and secondary school has barely changed since 1990, and in 1999 it stood at 82 percent. In South Asia progress has been greater, but girls’ enrollments reached only 81 percent of boys’ in 1999.

Past progress and future requirement to achieve girls' school enrollment target   Recent estimates show more girls in school, but all regions except Latin America are still short of the target of eliminating gender equality in primary and secondary education by 2005.

Beyond Schooling

Gender disparity in literacy: Literacy is a fundamental skill to empower women to take control of their own lives, to engage directly with authority and give them access to the wider world of learning.  Educating women and giving them equal rights is important for many reasons:

It increases their productivity, raising output and reducing poverty. It promotes gender equality, within households and removes constraints on women's decision making this reducing fertility rates and improving maternal health. Educated women do a better job caring for children, increasing children's chances of surviving to become healthier and better educated.

In most regions, illiteracy is higher among young women
		The number of literate women aged 15-24 years in the world went up from 390 million in 1990 to 432 million in 2000. This represents a global increase in the female literacy rate of approximately 3 percentage points from 80 to 83 per cent. At current rates, however, the target of eliminating gender disparity in education by 2015 will not be met, with the literacy rate for women 15-24 projected to be 88 per cent, versus a projected rate of 92 for young men.