Source: U.S Department of State
Washington — The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Demographic and Health Surveys Program March 7 released a report that assesses gains in women's status and gender equality worldwide.

This report, "Women's Lives and Challenges: Equality and Empowerment since 2000," is among the most extensive recent assessments of women's status, USAID said in announcing the release of the report on its website. The report looks at women's progress in four continents and more than 45 countries and evaluates trends in women's employment, domestic decisionmaking, exposure to violence and access to education and health care.

"Gender equality is still an elusive goal for many countries," said Katie Taylor, USAID's deputy assistant administrator for global health. "Supporting countries to expand women's and girls' access to health care, education, clean water, proper nutrition and more, USAID is committed to translating data into policies and programs that save women's and girls' lives, improve their futures, and promote women's full participation."

Despite some notable gains, overall progress towards women's empowerment and gender equality is halting and inconsistent, the new report shows.

For example, access to primary education is expanding for women worldwide, but more men than women are literate and have completed primary school in almost every country surveyed, USAID said. While more than half of women are employed in the majority of countries surveyed, women are still less likely than men to be paid in cash for their work, the agency adds.

The new report was released at a USAID event on closing the gender data gap. Invited guests to the event included U.S. government officials and envoys from the African Union, Finland and Norway.

The full report (PDF, 13.7MB) is available on the website of ICF International, USAID's implementing partner for the Demographic and Health Surveys Program.