PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER WOMEN BY- NOBLE OKONKWO

WHAT IS GENDER EQUALITY ? Gender equality is the measurable equal representation of women and men. Gender equality does not imply that women and men are the same, but that they have equal value and should be accorded equal treatment. The United Nations regards gender equality as a human right. It points out that empowering women is also an indispensable tool for advancing development and reducing poverty.

WOMEN’S HEALTH Some of the greatest inequalities in the world are in levels of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights. In some countries, as many as 1 in 7 women who fall pregnant will die. Desperate poverty, limited contraceptive use, high unintended fertility, substantial HIV prevalence rates, widespread unsafe abortion practice, a dearth of high quality facilities, repressive and discriminatory legislation, gender-based violence and the denial of rights both cause and exacerbate women's health and safety.

SEXUAL RIGHTS Sexual rights are basic human rights. But around the world, they are denied daily to people through violence, abuse and coercion, and through criminalization and discrimination. IPPF Member Associations constantly deal with the consequences of individuals’ and governments’ failure to recognize sexual rights. IPPF’s belief is that such recognition is imperative. This belief informs every aspect of the Federation's work.

WAYS TO EMPOWER WOMEN Create a safe space: Women in South Asia often have nowhere to gather with other women and talk about issues like gender equity, women’s rights, or health. READ Centers provide a safe, trusted space for women to gather and learn. Teach women to read: If you are illiterate, simple things like reading signs on a road, numbers on a phone, or directions on a medicine bottle make daily life a struggle. READ Centers teach thousands of women to read each year. Teach job skills and seed businesses: Women learn beekeeping, mushroom farming, sewing, and other income-generating skills through training programs at READ Centers. One in five Nepali women report going on to start her own income-generating business after joining a savings cooperative and taking skills training at a READ Center.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS Women's rights are the right and entitlements claimed for women and girls of many societies worldwide. In some places, these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behavior, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed. They differ from broader notions of human rights through claims of an inherent historical and traditional bias against the exercise of rights by women and girls in favor of men and boys.

WOMEN POWER AND POLITICS Politics can be defined as the science of government, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs.This is true even for the decisions that are made at the international level. Our national and provincial governments are still invested with great power to manage how those decisions will affect the laws of our country and province and how their citizens experience them. Woman power in politics is when women politicians and womanish groups approach issues from a womanish point of view and attempt to influence decision-making processes in our political structures to effect action and change so that the best possible outcome for women is achieved.

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