16 December 2008
Nepal
DFID’s support to the health sector (£200m) has helped reduce maternal mortality by almost half in the past 10 years.
Nigeria
DFID support to a girls’ education programme has helped increase girls’ enrolment in six northern states by 10-15% in one year. In July 2008 we increased our support to £38m.
Afghanistan
DFID support to the Government of Afghanistan has helped increase the provision of antenatal care to women in rural Afghanistan from 5% in 2003 to 30% in 2006.
Sierra Leone
DFID supported communications, sensitisation and training activities to encourage women both to vote and to stand as candidates in local council elections in July 2008. The number of women councillors nearly doubled from 11%t to almost 19%. One council now has 50% percent women councillors.
Women in Parliament: a mixed picture
Following elections in September 2008 56% of the seats in Rwanda’s national parliament are now filled by women. This puts the country no 1 in the ranking worldwide. But in one third of developing countries women account for less than 10% of Parliamentarians (16).
DFID support to research
DFID is funding two 5-year research projects on women’s empowerment which will inform future policy – one based at the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex , the other at City University, Hong Kong. DFID has also supported Gender & Growth assessments in a number of countries aimed at estimating the impact of gender inequality on economic growth.
Post-conflict situations
DFID is providing up to £3.4m to a UNIFEM programme supporting women’s engagement in peace-building and preventing sexual violence in 6 countries (Afghanistan, Haiti, Liberia, Rwanda, Timor Leste, and Uganda).
The Danish MDG3 Torch campaign
This campaign was launched in March 2008 and each torch bearer commits him/herself to "doing something extra" in support of gender equality and women's economic empowerment. DFID is a signatory to this campaign. In accepting the MDG3 Torch, DFID announced new commitments in Ghana and Yemen.
In Yemen, a further £43.3m to the Social Fund for Development will support programmes on education, health, water and microfinance which will target women.
In Ghana, a further £3m for the Social Grants Programme will provide grants for poor households, many of which are headed by women.
CEDAW: 30 years old
The UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2009. Although the Convention has been ratified by almost all UN member states, it is still a long way from being fully implemented in many countries.
Improving access to justice
DFID’s £25m contribution to the Justice Sector Reform programme in Sierra Leone has supported the introduction of travelling magistrates, which has improved access to justice for women in remote areas. The programme also includes support to improving police facilities for victims of domestic violence.