Equal rights for women

Most of the world’s poorest people are women. What makes them poor is the discrimination they face because of their gender.

Women get paid less than men for the same work or are not allowed to have a job at all. Yet in Africa it is women, not trucks, who carry two-thirds of all goods on the move. In sub-Saharan Africa women produce 80% of basic foodstuffs.

Instead of going to school, 44 million girls stay at home to fetch water or work around the house.

Many women are beaten, raped and infected with HIV and AIDS. Mothers often die in childbirth. Girls can be trafficked and sold for sexual purposes. Female activists fight to change unfair laws and traditions, but then are not given a say in the decision-making process.

The dice are loaded against half the human race.

For many years DFID has promoted equal rights for women and girls. And we have got more girls into school and pushed for fair pay in the workplace. We want women to have a voice in their communities – and their countries.

Without women playing their full part in public life, it is much harder for a country to tackle poverty and develop its economy.

Educated girls and women have better opportunities to earn higher wages, lifting themselves and their families out of poverty.

• Read our booklet Gender Equality - At the heart of development (1.47 mb) for further facts.
• Find out how the United Nations is working to empower women around the world.
• DFID’S Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP)
  First Progress Report 2007/08 (758 kb)