Opening doors : gender equality and development in the Middle East North Africa / The World Bank.

Format:

Book

Government document

Contributor:

World Bank.

Series:

MENA development report

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women's rights--Middle East.

Women's rights.

Women's rights--Africa, North.

Sex discrimination against women--Middle East.

Sex discrimination against women.

Sex discrimination against women--Africa, North.

Women--Legal status, laws, etc--Middle East.

Women.

Women--Legal status, laws, etc--Africa, North.

Women--Legal status, laws, etc.

North Africa.

Middle East.

Physical Description:

xvii, 187 pages : color illustrations ; 27 cm.

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : World Bank, [2013]

Summary:

In the last two decades, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has closed many critical gender daps, especially, in ensuring equal access for girls and boys to education and health care. Today, the region can be proud that its women are enrolling in far greater numbers in university than ever before. Indeed, in many countries, young women are more educated than young men. At the same time, MENA has also witnessed the largest decrease in maternal mortality in the world. These achievements are commendable, and the next step is expanding the role of MENA women in the work place and in public life. Currently, only one in four women of working age are employed or looking for work. Many of them find it very difficult to get a job. Young women in many MENA countries face unemployment rates as high as 50 percent. It is no surprise then, that the region's young educated women are calling for greater access to economic opportunities and a more equal, inclusive society. These unmet aspirations and the vast untapped potential of half of the region's people, at a time the region is undergoing a momentous transformation, is the context of Opening Doors. The book's analysis makes a compelling case for concerted and coordinated action on multiple fronts to realize these aspirations and harness the potential of MENA's women. In the region, women face a complex set of constraints to decision making, choice, mobility, and opportunity: legal barriers, gender norms, lack of market-relevant skills, and limited opportunities in the private sector, to name a few. The report offers suggestions for policy, action to address these numerous challenges. As the region looks to a new future and a new development path, we hope that this book will provide an analytical platform for debate and dialogue and a renewed commitment to gender equality. Book jacket.

Contents:

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Acronyms and abbreviations

Executive summary

Gender equality in MENA : the facts and the puzzle

Impressive achievements in human development

Little discrimination between girls and boys within the household

Of the lowest rates of excess female mortality in the world

Rapid declines in maternal mortality

More girls in school than in much of the world

Virtually no gender gaps in enrolment, and reverse gender gaps in university, and math performance

MENA's performance in human development is largely explained by economic development and wealth

Some challenges remain

The puzzle in MENA : why do women participate in such few numbers outside the home?

Women in the workforce

Women in business

Women in politics

What explains the mena puzzle?

Religion is too simplistic an explanation

Oil endowments alone cannot explain the paradox either

Social norms and the legal framework limit women's agency

Social and cultural norms constrain women's roles outside the home

Evolving norms and the invisible hand of marriage

Equality under the law and its enforcement is critical for women's agency

Legal systems differ widely and derive from multiple sources

Legal constraints to women's agency in MENA

Economic incentives dampen participation in the workforce

A social contract underpinned by a generous but costly welfare state

Extensive public sector employment with generous compensation

Generous subsidies encourage women to stay at home

State regulation and intervention in the market

Heavy investment in education, but not the kind that businesses want

Unequal access to entrepreneurship opportunities

The time for reform is now

Aspirations are changing

As education levels increase, female labor force participation will likely increase

A demographic gift?

The social contract is no longer sustainable

Opening the door to women : policy directions

A roadmap for reform

Policies to address the region's challenges

Closing the remaining gender gaps in human deelopment

Expanding economic opportunities for women

Closing gender gaps in voice and agency

Supporting evidence-based policy making

References

Technical annex

Appendix 1.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780821397633

082139763X

OCLC:

819816664