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• Women are Key Engines of Economic Growth and Social Progress – Don McKinnon

Women are Key Engines of Economic Growth and Social Progress – Don McKinnon

16 May 2005

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon has said that women’s equality is central to the successful development of any country. He said they are key engines of economic growth and social progress.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon (right) greets the report's co-author Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director of the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Programme.

"Women are the strongest link in the virtuous circle of growth and development: educating women, for example, leads to better health for the entire family, and better health means a stronger workforce and increased economic growth."

Mr McKinnon said increased gender equality not only benefits women, but everyone as well. He was speaking on 16 May 2005 at the official launch of a report on 'Women's Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap' by the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Marlborough House, the Commonwealth Secretariat's headquarters in London, UK.

Mr McKinnon stressed that women must be able to play a part in addressing some of the most pressing issues faced by the world today such as alleviating poverty, combating HIV/AIDS and preventing conflicts. Otherwise, he added, "if you don't allow half the world to play their part in solving these problems, you're only going to get half the solutions."

The Secretary-General said the launch of the WEF report on women's empowerment was important because "it helps to highlight the very deep inequalities that affect the lives of women around the world" and "points the way to addressing these inequalities and provides solutions to bridging the gender gap."

Mr McKinnon went on to outline the work of the Commonwealth in bridging the gender gap such as a new ten-year Plan of Action for Gender Equality (2005-2015), which builds on previous Commonwealth commitments. The aim is to help give women a voice on the political stage and ensure that they have the power to influence decisions which affect their lives and the lives of their communities.

"We have also developed programmes to address the problem of violence against women in a number of regions including Asia, the Caribbean, Southern Africa, and the Pacific. It is an encouraging fact that 50 out of 53 Commonwealth countries have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

"Our Plan of Action also addresses economic inequalities and we are focusing on creating an enabling environment for women entrepreneurs and women workers, especially in the informal economy."

Mr McKinnon said assistance is being provided to help governments develop strategies to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which is affecting women and girls disproportionately.

Barrister Cherie Booth, a key speaker at the official launch, praised the effort made by some Commonwealth countries in bridging the gender gap, citing four Commonwealth countries which are ranked among the top ten countries in the report -- New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Acknowledging progress made in achieving gender equality in the world, Ms Booth regretted that much still has to be done. "There are ways forward and we can make progress. It was only ten years ago that we had the Beijing conference which recognised explicitly that gender equality is critical to the development and peace of every nation. And that was an historic, major step forward. While we celebrate progress, we know it's been slow. Thirty years after the beginning of the decade on women and ten years after Beijing, it's still a woman's face we see when we speak of poverty; of HIV/AIDS; of violent conflict, social upheavals and trafficking in human beings.

Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director of the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Programme, presented the 19-page report. It is the first attempt by the WEF to assess the current size of the gender gap by measuring the extent to which women in 58 countries have achieved equality with men in five critical areas: economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment, and health and well-being.