Gender equality overview

Gender equality means that women, men, girls and boys enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and protections. Investments in gender equality contribute to lifelong positive outcomes for children and their communities and yield considerable inter-generational payoffs, as children’s rights and well-being often depend on the rights and well-being of women.

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Gender equality in childhood

Available data suggest that in the first decade of life (0-9 years of age), gender disparities are relatively small, particularly in early childhood. Overall, children are equally likely to be registered at birth and immunized, irrespective of sex. In about half of countries with available data, girls are more likely to be developmentally on track at ages 3 and 4 than boys, while in the remaining countries there are no sex differences with regards to developmental status. And in most countries, girls and boys are at about equal risk of experiencing violent punishment by caregivers in the home.

However, significant gender differences persist in some domains and in certain countries. For example, while gender parity in under-5 mortality is observed in most regions of the world, with parity being defined as the mortality rates that would be expected for each sex given girls’ biological advantage in survival, notable gaps persist in nine countries. In these countries, girls’ risk of dying before age 5 is significantly higher than expected for the level of mortality, suggesting entrenched gender-based discriminatory practices.[1]

Gender equality in adolescence

Though girls and boys face similar challenges in early childhood, gender disparities become more pronounced in adolescence (10-19 years of age), a crucial period when boys’ and girls’ attitudes about gender develop and gender norms consolidate. In many places, the onset of puberty is a signal for constraining girls’ movement, schooling, friendships, sexuality and life exposure.  Adolescent girls, due to expected gender roles, may also face a disproportionate burden of domestic work, expectations to be married, risks of early pregnancy, as well as sexual and gender-based violence. For instance:

• In least developed countries, adolescent girls aged 10-14 are twice as likely to spend excessive hours (at least 21 hours per week)  on unpaid domestic and care work than boys of the same age.
• Globally, 19 per cent of adolescent girls aged 15-19 are not in education, employment or training (NEET) compared to 11 per cent of boys of the same age. In South Asia, adolescent girls are three times as likely as adolescent boys to be NEETs.
• In 2023, 70 per cent of new HIV infections among adolescents aged 15-19 occurred among girls, worldwide.
• Globally, 37 per cent of adolescent girls aged 15-19 do not have their needs for family planning satisfied with modern methods.
• Globally, 50 million girls alive today have experienced sexual violence.
• Around 4 million girls are subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) every year.
• Complications from pregnancy and childbirth account for roughly 1 in every 23 deaths among adolescent girls aged 15–19, worldwide.
• Self-harm is among the top five causes of death among adolescent girls aged 15-19, worldwide.

However, as boys transition into adolescence, they also face distinct risk factors due to gender socialization. Constructs of masculinity that encourage physical aggression, emotional stoicism and sexual promiscuity heighten boys’ risk taking, jeopardizing their physical health and well-being. For example, globally, the homicide rate is 4 times higher among adolescent boys aged 10-19 than among girls of the same age. And adolescent boys aged 15-19 years are more than twice as likely as adolescent girls of the same age to consume alcohol, a risk factor for road injuries, non-communicable diseases and interpersonal violence.

Gender equality in adulthood

To survive and thrive, all children, irrespective of sex or age, require quality care and support from women as well as men, especially fathers. This care and support can be substantially improved by fostering gender equality in adulthood – an important goal in its own right – and by reducing the gender-related barriers that contribute negatively to the well-being and rights of children. These barriers range from women’s and girls’ unequal access to resources, information and technology to a lack of safety, mobility and decision-making, as well as gender norms that circumscribe both women’s and men’s roles and opportunities. For example, in most countries with available time use data, women do more unpaid work, including domestic and care work, than men, limiting women’s ability to enter and progress in the labour market. [2]

UNICEF’s approach

To monitor the status of women and children and track progress toward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s commitment to gender equality, [1] UNICEF produces, compiles, analyses and disseminates gender statistics across a wide range of sectors, including education, health, protection from violence and exploitation, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).  It does this by:

• Ensuring that the data collection process does not introduce gender bias and yields high quality gender data. The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) is UNICEF’s main instrument to gather nationally-representative sex-disaggregated and gender relevant data for children, women and men. Access a list of sex-disaggregated and gender-specific indicators available in MICS and learn more about closing gender data gaps for children and adolescents through MICS here.
• Maintaining global databases sourced from administrative records, vital registrations, population censuses and household surveys on a variety of sex-disaggregated and gender-specific indicators to build the evidence-base on gender equality and the rights and well-being of children.
• Cross-disaggregating gender- and child- related indicators by sex and key stratifiers, including wealth, location and age, to better understand which women and girls and boys are most marginalized.
• Developing innovative methodologies for filling gender data gaps, for example on measuring adolescents’ time use as well as the measurement of gender norms related to children’s engagement in unpaid work.
• Supporting the strengthening of administrative data system to produce gender statistics
• Improving the use of gender statistics through better dissemination and communication channels, including adolescent girl country profiles.
• Informing UNICEF’s program and policy work on gender equality. To learn more about this work, click here.
• To learn more about UNICEF’s approach to gender data and statistics, click here.

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