What gender issues are hampering progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals? This paper uses the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) to examine gender inequality and the MDGs. It focuses on three MDGs: eradicating extreme hunger and poverty (MDG 1), achieving universal primary education (MDG 2) and improving maternal health (MDG 5). ‘Missing dimensions’ to these three MDGs are found to be: women’s control over resources; their access to land and credit; decision-making power and the percentage of early marriages; and violence against women. These dimensions should be more explicitly targeted.
There has been progress in some areas towards achieving the MDGs. MDG 3 specifically relates to promoting gender equality and empowering women. However, ongoing gender inequality continues to hamper momentum on all of the MDGs. New research by the OECD finds that countries in which social institutions discriminate strongly against women score poorly against the human development targets used to track progress towards the MDGs.
The research uses the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) to measure how codes of conduct, norms, traditions and informal and formal laws impact gender equality. Application of the SIGI reveals that gender inequality is a factor to poor achievement across all the goals. Of particular significance are ‘missing dimensions’ to three key MDGs:
- Eradicating extreme hunger and poverty (MDG 1): Where women lack control over resources, and are denied access to land and credit, the number of malnourished children is 85 per cent above the average for developing countries
- Achieving universal primary education (MDG 2): Where women have low status and lack decision-making power, they are generally forced into early marriage. In countries where more than half of girls aged 15 to 19 are married, on average fewer than half of primary school-aged children are in school.
- Improving maternal health (MDG 5): Women’s physical security and female genital mutilation (FGM) are overlooked in MDG 5. However, where women are victims of violence or subject to FGM they are at much greater risk of experiencing complications or death during pregnancy and delivery.
It is critical to identify the bottlenecks and obstacles to achieving progress in the MDGs. According to the research, factors linked to women’s lack of control over resources, limited decision-making power and status in the family, and threats to their physical security will continue to thwart progress towards all MDGs. Relying on MDG 3 alone is not enough. Simply measuring gender inequality in health, education, political participation, or employment outcomes fails to capture critical underlying dynamics. In order to further progress towards MDG targets it will be necessary to:
- Gather more data on gender-related issues, especially regarding discriminatory social institutions such as early marriage, violence against women, and access to land and credit.
- Target gender-focused aid more effectively, especially in post-conflict countries where poor infrastructure and a culture of violence entrench and exacerbate discrimination against women.
- Target the ‘missing dimensions’ of the three MDGs more explicitly. This would enable the international community to address the underlying drivers of gender inequalities.
