2005
What the social development indicators say

 Since 1995, Social Watch annual reports have included a follow-up on the situation of countries in relation to the development goals that governments committed themselves to during the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen and at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, as well as to the most recent goals of the Millennium Declaration for 2015.

Starting with the 2004 issue, the Social Watch follow-up strategy is built around a set of basic areas of social development. The dimensions of analysis related to human security were therefore incorporated and strengthened following the guidelines proposed by international summits.[4] These dimensions also represent relevant thematic areas for understanding poverty from a multi-dimensional perspective.

Indicators selected to define and evaluate these core areas of development respond not only to conceptual criteria but also to functional considerations based on the evaluation of coverage and international comparability of indicators.[5]

For descriptive/explanatory purposes the advance tables and the placement of countries in each area are classified according to geographic region or income level.[6]

1.           Poverty and distribution

Unfortunately very little can be said about the progress in the struggle to reduce poverty. Even though the foremost goal of the Millennium Summit is to reduce the world’s poverty by half, instruments and measurements used in the diagnosis and evolution of the situation are still inaccurate and under discussion.

1.1.          On measuring poverty

The concept of poverty is and will be a source of heated debate. This is mainly due to the fact that it is built around a purely analytical perspective that reflects the dissatisfaction of certain needs considered basic for the development of life in society. There is more than one viewpoint not only on the way these needs are measured but also on how to determine when needs are met. There is also debate regarding the choice of basic needs that define a situation of poverty.

When considering which needs determine a poverty situation, the first step is to identify any unsatisfied basic needs. In order to do so, it is necessary to define the specific set of household needs whose presence or absence determines whether the household is poor or not. Therefore a person is considered poor when living in a poor household. A second method is based on the consideration of income as a tool to satisfy the set of needs that are considered essential to ensure a minimum standard of living. According to this method, a person is poor when his/her income is below the minimum threshold to satisfy certain needs. This option, based exclusively on the satisfaction of needs related to the consumption of goods and services money can buy, does not take into consideration access to other goods and services not provided by the private sector or factors that influence a person’s welfare but are unrelated to monetary income.

The income threshold method may be based on a relative poverty line or on an absolute poverty line. The relative poverty line is set in such a way that a person is considered poor when his/her income is below the average income of the members of a given society. This is the method used by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Thus, poverty is basically conceptualized as a problem of distribution related to social justice criteria. The absolute poverty line is determined in such a way as to reflect the amount of money necessary to reach a minimum standard of living. It does not depend on the distribution of income. When establishing these poverty lines the income level necessary to cover basic needs (food, clothing, housing, healthcare, and education) should be taken into consideration. In order to do so a basket of goods is established that includes food items that meet nutritional requirements and non-food items considered to cover basic consumption needs. The poverty line will result from expanding the value of the basic basket according to the factor derived from the quotient between consumption expenditure and food expenditure of the group in question.

Over and above absolute and relative poverty lines, it is increasingly necessary to remember that poverty is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Altimir[7] defines poverty as “a situational syndrome that brings together infra-consumption, malnutrition, poor living conditions, low educational levels, inadequate sanitary conditions, unstable participation in the productive system, attitudes of discouragement and anomie, little participation in social integration mechanisms, and maybe the endorsement of a particular set of values somewhat different to those of the rest of the society.” Qualitative considerations are currently being added to the definition to provide more depth to the concept. “Feeling poor is a relative concept that has a lot to do with having access to necessary resources to satisfy the living standards that are customary to or approved by the society you belong to.”[8]

Recently, non-material or symbolic dimensions have been added to the concept of poverty, such as the increasingly necessary use of several modern skills, among which can be mentioned analytical thinking, information processing capacity, communication and management skills in order to ensure full participation in a globalized world and adaptation to new labour and production models. If poverty is defined in terms of a lack of well-being or resources that allow people to live a good quality of life, then attention must be paid to dimensions such as availability of spare time, public safety, protection against public and domestic violence, protection against disasters, and gender equity.[9]

Although the broad approach presented here has not been operational at the level of empirical research, a multi-dimensional approach seems to be the most appropriate way to define situations associated with the condition of poverty. In this respect, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can and must be considered a multi-dimensional approach to meet basic human needs and part of an organized response to the condition of poverty in its broadest sense.

1.2.          Poverty of income

In recognizing the multidimensional character of poverty, we should acknowledge that there is no single method for measuring poverty but rather a variety of methodological approaches that can be used to measure it. Information on the living standards of individuals, their health situation, educational level, mortality and morbidity, gender equity and other characteristics are indispensable in obtaining a sense of the scope, distribution and trends of poverty worldwide. Income poverty is, however, an essential part of measuring certain situations and living conditions of people, since income in today’s society is undoubtedly a fundamental factor that links people with the satisfaction of certain needs.

The need to compare income poverty at the international level has led to the development of tools that have become both widely used and widely questioned. The USD 1 or USD 2 a day poverty lines are controversial, yet the former was still used to make the main MDG operational.

1.3.          The poverty of measurement

According to Reddy and Pogge,[10] the World Bank estimates contain serious flaws and are therefore not fully reliable:

·          The international poverty line (IPL) is inconsistent, since it does not provide the means to interpret purchasing power between countries or between years, and therefore leads to estimates that make no sense. Thus it is possible for people who are considered poor in one country to have more products or engage in higher consumption than those not identified as poor in another.

·          The IPL is not based on an individual’s requirement for basic resources.

·          Poverty estimates available today are unreliable due to their sensitivity to the values of critical parameters that are estimated on the basis of limited information or no information at all.

Reddy and Pogge state that we are still uncertain about the income of poor people in the whole world, how poor they are, where they live and how this figure has changed over the years. This information is extremely important and urgent for MDGs monitoring. The authors suggest that the definition of poverty concentrate on the basic ability to satisfy one’s needs and not just on an arbitrary amount of dollars. This would provide meaning to the ILP: those below the line will lack the necessary resources to satisfy the most basic requirements of a human being.

In conclusion, common methods need to be adopted to determine poverty lines and to provide worldwide poverty estimates. To this end, it will be necessary to specify - through a comprehensive and transparent process - not only the basic human capabilities that depend on income but also to specify the characteristics of any goods typically needed to achieve them. A fixed set of human capabilities can also provide a single standard to adjust national poverty lines over time, to reflect the changing prices of priority needs to achieve elementary capabilities. These adjustments should be conducted by national committees that make the national poverty line consistent with common standards. A universal standard will allow the world to rely on the definition of poverty used to estimate the number of poor people and will also ensure that this condition has the same meaning in any corner of the world.

1.4.          The goal to reduce poverty in the world and World Bank data (1990-2015)

Indicators presented in the Poverty and distribution table are the ones used internationally[11] to assess poverty and inequity from the point of view of income. Information available at the global level for this type of measurement is very limited: not only is it lacking in some countries but also the criteria for measuring vary or are applied to situations that do not allow for comparison.[12] In addition, some national situations are diagnosed on the basis of quite superficial estimates. Within this framework of inaccuracy and relativity it is very difficult to establish the criteria for quantifying poverty in the world and, more specifically, to get information on two instances in time that are minimally comparable between countries. For all of these reasons, it is truly complicated to establish a follow-up of the evolution of poverty, measured through changes in country income level. It is necessary to pay attention to potential manipulation of the results of poverty measurements undertaken for purposes related to the political evaluation of international commitments and campaigns.

Bearing in mind the warnings mentioned above, the latest figures available from the World Bank report a decline in the absolute number of people in conditions of extreme poverty[13] from 1.219 billion in 1990 to 1.1 billion in 2001. The same source[14] points to the fact that this reduction is mainly due to the significant decrease in poverty experienced in China. At a regional level, substantial improvement was seen in South and East Asia, where the first MDG will most likely be reached.

Chart 1: People living on less than USD 1 per day

Source: World Bank.

The Global Economic Projections carried out by the World Bank in 2002 already recognized that the MDGs could be achieved at a global level, albeit with great regional differences. The forecast for the year 2015 indicates that 734 million people will be living in poverty. This figure is obtained through differential drops in the number of poor people by region and according to a slight increase in North Africa and the Middle East and an alarming increase in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The 2004 review of poverty projections indicates that by 2015 poverty might reach a global level of 12.5%, compared to 28.3% estimated for 1990. At the regional level, the evolution of poverty in North Africa and the Middle East, as well as in Europe and Central Asia, shows that this goal is likely to be achieved. It might not be met however in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. According to regional specialists, chances for the Latin American region to reach its goal are closely linked to a change in its income distribution patterns. The region is the most unequal in the world and there does not appear to be any trend to indicate a reversal on this situation. On the other hand, Sub-Saharan Africa has witnessed the growth, rather than the reduction of poverty, from 41% to 46% of the population. This translates into 140 million more people living in a situation of extreme poverty.

It is worth noting that the poverty reduction goal has been implemented through the specific goal of reducing the share of the total population below the poverty line of USD 1 a day, which nevertheless allows the absolute number of people living in such conditions to increase. Taking into account the total number of people who survived on less than USD 2 a day in 1990 (2.653 billion), the estimates for this figure in 2015 are down to 2.144 billion. In this case, the situation is slightly different as the significant increase in the number of people who live on less than USD 2 a day in Sub-Saharan Africa must be added to the slight increase experienced in South Asia and to a decline in East Asia and the Pacific (due to China’s inclusion in this region).

Although good performance is expected from countries in South Asia regarding populations living on less than USD 1 a day, a large contingency of people will hardly cross this threshold and will remain below USD 2 a day. If we consider the evolution of poverty measured through the one-dollar-a-day basis over the last few decades, we can see that by the year 2000 the number of people living on less than USD 1 a day was reduced by more than 130 million, compared with this figure in 1990. But this was due, almost exclusively, to the reduction experienced in East Asia and the Pacific, where figures fell almost by half: from 470 million in 1990 to 261 million in 2000, mostly due to the strong pace of income growth in China, which reached over 9% annually.

2.           Food security

For a society to achieve the adequate levels of food security, all of its members must “at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritionally adequate food to satisfy nutritional needs and their preference in terms of food choice, so that they may live a healthy and active life. Food security is accomplished when the availability of food is guaranteed and the supply is stable and affordable.”[15]

Food security is an essential factor in the effective exercise of human rights. The right to adequate nutrition is enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, through which the signatory States committed themselves to work towards improved food production, preservation and distribution methods in order to ensure an equitable distribution of global food supplies according to the needs of the population.

The current food security situation on a global level is of high concern, particularly when faced with the fact that recent history does not show a strong tendency towards improved food security. In its 2004 report, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)[16] estimates the number of people in the world suffering from undernourishment at 852 million and draws three forceful conclusions. Firstly, the minimum pace of progress necessary to combat chronic hunger in the developing world has not been attained. Secondly, progress has been very asymmetric with several countries experiencing significant progress while many others remained stagnant or even deteriorated. Finally, both in human and economic terms, “the costs of not taking immediate and strenuous action to reduce hunger at comparable rates worldwide are staggering. (…) Every year that hunger continues at present levels costs more than 5 million children their lives and costs developing countries billions of dollars in lost productivity and earnings.”[17]

With the hunger reduction pace that the world has set up until now, it will not be possible to achieve the MDG to reduce hunger. In order to improve this situation, intensive efforts will de necessary from developing countries and from the international community. These efforts must not only include investments and specific policies, but also substantial changes in world trade practices. These elements are explicitly outlined in MDG 8 and involve aid from the international community to the most troubled countries, as well as changes in debt management and trade mechanisms.

In particular, FAO has expressed the need for direct measures to reinforce effective access to food, especially through income generated by employment in rural activities that are safe, productive and competitive. “Most of the poorest developing countries are in desperate need of investment. International aid to such countries, including lasting solutions to the debt issue as well, would represent a concrete signal that the world is willing to meet the goals of the UN World Food and Development Summit for the Millennium.”[18]

Curiously enough, currently half the people starving in the world live in small farming communities, while another 20% are landless farmers and 10% live in communities whose subsistence is based on cattle grazing, fishing or forestry activities. Only 20% of the starving live in cities. However, urbanization as well as globalization of food systems are modifying the map of hunger and the nutritional profile of hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.[19] These changes make more complex the factors leading to food vulnerability among countries and within countries.

The number of food emergencies (crises due to natural or human causes that require immediate attention) has gradually grown over the last 20 years from an annual average of 15 in the 1980s to over 30 since the year 2000. Additionally, the proportion of emergencies that can be principally attributed to human causes, such as conflict or economic crisis, has more than doubled since 1992, from 15% to 35% while the proportion of emergencies caused by natural disasters has diminished. African countries affected by the most devastating and prolonged crises are those subject to armed conflict. Some of these countries such as Angola, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan have been immersed in crises throughout almost the entire period lasting from 1990-2004. In all of these cases, armed conflicts have coincided with difficult climatic conditions.[20]

In terms of the present undernourishment situation, infant malnutrition and low birth weight, a significant number of countries occupy the best relative position; this group is comprised of around 40% of the countries with available information (72). At the other extreme, almost one in five countries (34) occupies the worse relative situation according to their food status. The difference between these two groups reveals the gap that exists among countries in the world in terms of food security. On average, almost four of every ten inhabitants of countries in the worst situation are affected by undernourishment. This translates into more than three children out of every ten under the age of 5 with malnutrition and one in every five with low birth weight. This is a far cry from countries with a better food situation, where on average there is less than one undernourished person out of every ten, one child out of every 20 is malnourished and one of every 20 babies is born with low weight.

These differences are clearly visible when grouping countries according to their levels of income (measured in GDP per capita which is one of the indicators normally used to classify countries according to their development levels). According to FAO estimates, out of the 852 million undernourished people, 815 million live in developing countries, 28 million in countries in transition and 9 million in industrialized countries.[22] More specifically, 30% of the population is undernourished in countries in the lowest income level, while in lower middle income countries this figure drops to 12%. This indicator most clearly shows the differences existing between the poorest countries and the rest of the world.

Chart 2. Average rate in undernourishment, child malnutrition and low birth weight by income level

The geography of food security also reveals the differences that exist between countries by concentrating the most critical situations in specific regions. South Asia experiences the most awkward situation in terms of food security. Of the eight countries with available information, seven are in the worst situation within the area and the rest remain below average. The nutritional situation of children in this region is particularly critical, as it reflects the worst average values both in the percentage of the newly born with low birth weight (22%) as well as malnutrition in children under the age of 5 (39%).

Sub-Saharan Africa also reveals serious problems. In this region, the most critical situations relate to undernourishment (32%), with permanently high levels in infant malnutrition (24%) and in low birth weight (15%). Africa is the continent with the largest increase in food emergencies in recent years. These emergencies tripled between 1986 and 2004.[23]

Chart 3. Present situation in food security by region

Recent developments in food security present a worrying scenario. Countries which show no or little progress in this area predominate. That is to say, there has been only a slight improvement in over ten years. The effort made by some countries that were in very critical situations has been impressive but not sufficient to produce any substantial changes. Only slightly more than half (27) of the countries that made advances were able to rise above the global food security average.

The deterioration of food security is happening as much in countries that still maintain above average situations, as in countries in the worst positions in this area, although the greatest regression has occurred mainly in this last group.

Indicators reflect this slow progress. On average, countries have curbed the undernourishment of their population by two percentage points and infant malnutrition by three points. However the same average values are maintained in the percentage of children with low birth weight. These averages however summarize divergent evolutions where we find some countries that have regressed significantly while others have made substantial progress in their food situation.

The stagnation and regression of many countries is associated with frequent or prolonged food crises which cause chronic generalized undernourishment of the population. The average duration of emergencies during the period of 1992-2004 was 9 years. Between 1986 and 2004, 18 countries underwent critical situations for more than half that period. The result has been that in 13 of those countries, more than 35% of the population is starving.[24]

In eight countries significant regression has been registered in at least one of the indicators. In some cases, this setback is displayed in the percentage of undernourished people (the most alarming cases are the Democratic Republic of Congo, moving from 32% to 71% and Tajikistan, from 21% to 61% of its population). In other cases, deterioration is observed mainly in the infancy indicators (regression in terms of low birth weight and in infant malnutrition is significant in Comoros and Iraq).

On the other end of the scale, 12 countries have made significant progress in their food situation. In connection with this progress, FAO highlights important factors such as the implementation of specific actions both in food programmes (to accompany development policies) as well as changes in production structure and policies that cushion the effects of food crises, especially climate-generated ones.

The most critical situations today:

3.           Education

Access to elementary education is crucial to the elimination of extreme poverty and is also a core human right. Governments are committed to achieving the six objectives in the World Declaration on Education for All (EFA)[25] and the education MDG.

Since 1994 there has been substantial growth in education worldwide, especially in Africa and South America. However inequality is still experienced and represents a source of concern both in developing and developed countries.

One of the most important world education objectives for governments is universal primary education coverage by 2015. In terms of primary education, it is essential to provide people with the basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills that they need for their personal development and to live in society. In order to do so, most countries have adopted five- or six-year primary education programmes, which are considered to be the number of years needed to reach the goal before moving onto more diversified and specialized education at secondary level. Likewise, many countries find it indispensable to develop educational systems that continue well beyond primary education.

According to UNESCO’s Global Education Digest 2004,[26] although a child today is more likely to receive 9.3 years of schooling (primary and secondary education combined), there are considerable differences at the global level. In high-performing countries another 2.5 years of tertiary education can be added to the average, while in Africa the average time devoted to tertiary education is still marginal. A child starting school in Finland, New Zealand or Norway can expect to receive more than 17 years of education, which is almost twice what is received in Bangladesh or Myanmar, and four times what is received in Niger or Burkina Faso.

The study also reveals that estimated school years have a very high, although not perfect, correlation to the national income of a country. However unequal access to education exists both within and between countries. Therefore it is important not only to assess a country’s progress with respect to world goals but also with respect to its declared national standards.

Some of the most significant differences in results between countries are found in the average time spent studying at the tertiary education level. The average time that young people spend in tertiary education (these estimates include those who never study) is more than 30 times higher in the ten countries with the highest participation rates compared with the ten countries with the lowest rates. An important exception is Africa, where time devoted to tertiary education is insignificant, even in countries with higher school-life expectancy. Tunisia and South Africa are the only countries in the region where tertiary school-life expectancy is more than one year.

According the above-mentioned UNESCO report, the expected number of school years devoted to primary and secondary education is closely related to a country’s wealth. Of 37 countries with low incomes, only Malawi and Uganda display a school-life expectancy of at least 11 years. Meanwhile, all high-income countries, except two, exceed this level. Among low-income countries, the mean duration of expected schooling is below seven years in 21 of 37 countries. Only Cameroon, Malawi, Nepal, Tajikistan and Uganda exceed the world mean duration of nine years.

In the majority of countries most students that complete primary education continue onto the first 3 years of secondary education. In Europe, all countries except Ireland and Malta show transition rates that exceed 94%. In Asia and the Americas, transition rates exceed 90% in half of the countries and are above 85% in another quarter of the countries.

However the reality is very different in Africa. In one out of every four countries, half the children who reach the last level of primary education do not move onto secondary education. In another quarter of the countries, at least one in every three students drops out of school before starting secondary education. Only one quarter of the countries attain transition rates similar to those registered in other regions (exceeding 95%), including Botswana, Ethiopia, Namibia, Seychelles and South Africa.

Participation in the first 3 years of secondary education is common practice all over the world, with the exception of Africa. In Oceania, Europe, Asia and the Americas, half or almost half of the countries display net enrolment rates that exceed 90%. Of the 37 European countries, only Bulgaria and Moldova have net enrolment rates below 90%. Despite the high general levels of participation several countries present net enrolment rates under 50%: Papua New Guinea (31%) and Vanuatu (39%) in Oceania; Afghanistan (13%), Cambodia (33%), Myanmar (42%), Pakistan (35%) and East Timor (41%) in Asia; and Guatemala (44%) in the Americas.

Gender parity and equality in access to education are important components of international goals. The first international goal with concrete deadlines requires the achievement of gender parity in access to primary education by 2005.

As we will see in the section on gender equity and in the corresponding tables, more than one in every three boys and girls live in countries without equitable access to primary education. In all countries lacking gender equity in primary education access, girls are the most affected.

When considering the general situation of countries in terms of education, and looking at the three available indicators together, it is possible to observe that the majority of countries (84 out of 139) are above the world average. In the 25 countries in the worst performance group, more than 72% have been able to improve their situation in recent years and almost 30% have achieved significant progress (Table 3).

The most worrying scenarios are those of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Mauritania, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Senegal, since they are stagnant and have the lowest education figures in the world. In some cases, such as that of Mauritania, circumstances are particularly serious since the illiteracy rate is around 50%.

As is the case in other dimensions, deep inequalities are evident between different regions of the world in the education field (Chart 4). Very diverse education contexts co-exist throughout the world: from Sub-Saharan Africa, whose countries do not average 70% in primary education enrolment and retention, to the situation in North America and Europe where these figures exceed 90%.

Chart 4. Enrolment and retention rates in primary education by region

The primary education figures from the various regions are clearly linked to the corresponding literacy rates (Chart 5) in such a way that the regions lagging behind in enrolment and retention of children in school are the same as the ones with the worst literacy rates.

Chart 5. Literacy (ages 15-24) by region

The gap dividing countries into better and worse situations (Table 4) reveals a considerable distance between one group and the other. In countries where data is available, the literacy of the general population as well as enrolment and retention rates are over 90% in countries with better situations, while in countries with stagnant situations the figures are around 60%. As is to be expected, the three education indicators are strongly correlated.

4.           Health security: morbidity and mortality

The situation of health security in the world reveals deep inequalities. The specific morbidity and mortality indicators presented by Social Watch, as well as the latest publications by the World Health Organization (WHO),[27] which are included for reference, clearly express this reality. Demographic and health policy factors have an impact on health conditions, but the general lifestyle of each country’s population is equally important.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region most affected by poor health conditions. There are enormous contrasts resulting from global social development inequality. While a girl born today in Japan has a life expectancy of 85, a girl born in Sierra Leone can only expect to live 36 years.

On a global scale, infant mortality has not diminished while life expectancy has been gradually growing over the last years. Despite this fact, it is particularly serious to learn that in 14 African countries the present levels of child mortality are higher than those registered in 1990. In other terms, 35% of children run more mortal risks today (2005) than 10 years ago. Perinatal disorders, respiratory infections, diarrhea-related diseases and malaria only strengthen the effects of malnutrition, a risk associated with mortality. Adding to this, the HIV/AIDS pandemic aggravates the situation and once again demonstrates the huge divide between rich and poor in their struggle against diseases.

Indicators draw attention to a group of countries where child mortality rate progress made in the 1990s is reverting. Something similar is happening with life expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa where life expectancy is falling below the age of 46, when it had exceeded the age of 49 during the 1980s. This situation becomes more complicated as problems related more specifically to population health are inter-dependent. For example, HIV/AIDS infection increases the risk of tuberculosis, a disease on the rise in countries with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS.

One of the challenges most aggressively tackled by the international community is that of child survival which is closely related to the fall of mortality rates in children under the age of 5. By this last measure, the large majority (98%) of those deaths occur in developing countries. In Africa, prior to 1990 some improvement was experienced with this indicator, but to a large extent the HIV/AIDS pandemic destroyed this progress. Infectious and parasitic diseases are the primary causes of death and are intimately related to HIV/AIDS.

Socio-economic differences bring about inequalities not only between countries but also within each national territory where mortality levels vary significantly across income groups. The magnitude of this variation also differs between countries: while in Niger a poor child has a chance of dying that is 13% higher than that of a non-poor child, in Bangladesh this difference is reduced to 3%.

Recent years show a decline in health-related social benefits and an increase in inequality. In addition to this and partly as a result, the burden of morbidity is becoming more complex. We know that in developed countries over 60% of deaths relate to people over the age of 70, while in developing countries this proportion is around 30%. The WHO has pointed out that even though the mortality gap between developed and developing countries has been narrowing since the 1970s, the new challenge lies in stopping the accentuation of the differences between the various developing regions. According to this reality, a poor child in Africa has almost twice the chance of dying as a poor Latin American child.

Considering the aforementioned factors, the general situation of countries reveals a remarkable difference as we move from one region to the next. The worst situation is again that of Sub-Saharan Africa, where almost the majority of countries display values below the world average (Chart 6). It is quite significant that all countries in worse relative situations, with the exception of Kiribati, belong to that region. The remainder of the regions presents relative heterogeneous situations, except Europe where all of its countries are above the average, and North America whose countries are all in a better relative situation.

Chart 6. Present situation in morbidity and mortality by region

There is a close link between the income level of countries and their situation in terms of morbidity and mortality, which reinforces the presence of a strong correlation between the different dimensions of development. Nations identified in worse relative situations only have low and lower middle incomes, while those with higher incomes enjoy a better situation.

The majority of countries with low incomes are below the world average in terms of their health security. On the other end of the spectrum, OECD countries with higher income are exclusively in the best relative situation. In short, health security is an area of crucial importance where the worst faces of inequality are shown, as can be seen in the infant mortality figures.

Chart 7. Present situation in morbidity and mortality by income level

Recent evolution in this area allows us to observe the paths that the different countries are taking (Table 5). To this effect, it is notable to see just one country with a significant regression within the group of countries in worse relative situations (Swaziland).

Out of the 194 countries with sufficient data to study their evolution in this area, 116 have slightly progressed and 47 are stagnant. The most worrying situation is that of countries below the world average since in that group more than half are stagnant or experiencing some regression.

Child mortality is one of the core challenges facing nation states in terms of social development. Regarding the recent evolution of this indicator, there are many countries that experienced stagnation or slight regressions, although the majority of countries experienced slight or even significant progress (this progress also includes low and lower middle income countries). In 15 of the 182 countries regressions have been experienced. In terms of the relation between this evolution and the income level (Table 6), it can be noted that no countries with higher incomes experienced a regression while the poorest countries display a wider variety of situations.

The only countries that have regressed in relation to this indicator are those below the world average. It is also worrying to observe that only half of the 32 countries in worse relative situations have been able to make progress (Table 7).

Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan, Botswana and Iraq, are not only in the worst relative situation in terms of infant mortality compared with the rest of the countries in the world, but they have also experienced significant regressions in this indicator.

When mortality rates in children under the age of 5 are observed in each country by income level (Table 8), it is once again possible to observe a very clear relationship: the poorest countries are in worse situations. Almost all countries with higher mortality rates are also in the low income group. At the other extreme, high-income countries, whether they belonging to the OECD or not, are without exception within the better relative situation bracket, with the lowest mortality rates in children under 5 in the world.

In terms of transmittable diseases, in addition to HIV/AIDS, the prevalence of tuberculosis and malaria has increased, causing substantial health regressions. In the case of malaria, one of the main causes of child deaths, the most affected region is again Sub-Saharan Africa where all countries in worse relative situations are located. Something similar occurs in the case of HIV/AIDS, while the prevalence of tuberculosis occurs most problematically in East Asia and the Pacific region. If countries are taken into account according to income groups, the relation between tuberculosis and wealth is the one we should expect in the context of the present inequality: while the poorest countries are the most affected, out of the 81 high or middle-income with sufficient data, only six are below the world average.

A summary of morbidity and mortality indicators reflects sharp contrasts (Table 9). For example, countries in worse relative situations have infant mortality averages of 110 (for every 1,000 live births), which is 9 times the average of countries in better situations.

A closer look at countries in worse relative situations (Angola, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe) points to the strong prevalence of Sub-Saharan Africa nations in this group.

It is also within this region that are found the countries worst affected by the most dramatic indicators, such as the prevalence of people infected by HIV/AIDS or infant mortality rates.

5.           Health security: immunization

Progress in immunization has been a decisive factor in the present health status of the world’s population. The lives of millions of children have been saved as the use of vaccines has spread around the world. Vaccination is the most powerful tool in the prevention of diseases and children have a right to receive this type of protection. Access to vaccines is a core goal for meeting human rights and alleviating poverty. As stated in the report State of the World’s Vaccines and immunization,[29] the near-eradication of polio, as well as the drastic reduction in the incidence of measles and maternal and neonatal tetanus, represent the most positive effects produced by immunization.

Nevertheless inequity is still a source of concern both in terms of benchmarking at the level of nations as well as within each nation. On a global level, it is estimated that in the year 2000, 37 million children did not receive basic vaccination during their first year of life.

The present regional situation in children’s basic immunological coverage (polio, measles, tuberculosis and diphtheria) identifies Sub-Saharan Africa once again as the region in the worst situation (37 out of 48 countries with available data are classified within the two lowest brackets).

Botswana, Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland and Tanzania are the only five countries in this region that reach the level of those in better relative situations, with coverage over 90%. Meanwhile, the average situation of immunological coverage for these diseases for the rest of the region is substantially lower with values around 70%, with the exception of tuberculosis immunization, which reaches 81% coverage.

Chart 8. Immunization: present situation by region

The critical situation in Sub-Saharan Africa is evident especially in DPT and polio immunization coverage, where it shows the greatest gap in relation to other regions of the world. (Table 10).

Similarly, if the average of countries in worse relative situations is analyzed (indicated in Chart 9 as the lowest income countries), the difference with the average of countries in better situations becomes even wider. Immunization against DPT, measles and polio is below 56% for countries in worse situations while these same immunization rates exceed 96% in countries in better situations.

It is not surprising to find a close connection between the classification of countries according to their income levels and their general situation in terms of basic immunological coverage. The poorest countries invariably present the lowest levels of coverage. Within the group of lower middle income countries, a fairly large number is above average. A clear relation can be observed between income and current coverage of immunization, although income is not as decisive a factor as in other morbidity and mortality indicators (malaria, tuberculosis, infant mortality, etc.).

Chart 9. Immunization: present situation by income level

An assessment of the progress and regression which have occurred since 1990 reveals that 65% of countries have made progress, 20% have not shown any changes and 15% have regressed (Table 12). In general, the greatest progress in vaccination coverage has taken place in low income countries, where the lowest levels of vaccination were initially observed. However the highest regression is also concentrated in countries in worse relative situations and corresponds to countries with historically low levels of immunization coverage. Regression also occurs in some middle-income countries, namely the Central and Eastern European countries which became independent since 1990.

International commitments assumed by countries at the Beijing, Copenhagen and Millennium summits have placed priority on increasing vaccination coverage as one of the basic instruments to combat infant mortality. Attention paid to the poorest countries in the world in this aspect has been particularly emphasized both by governments and by international cooperation organizations.

Chart 10: Immunization: progress and regression by income level

Countries that have not presented changes are mostly those where coverage levels are above average.

Unequal access to basic vaccination services during childhood is only one example of inequality at the level of immunological protection. Inequity is even more pronounced in access to new vaccines introduced since 1985.

6.           Environment

One of the cross-cutting topics in social development is sustainable development. During the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 (Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro, the international community adopted Agenda 21 as a global action plan for sustainable development.

Agenda 21 reintroduced a series of recommendations for all areas of environmental interest. These recommendations recognize human rights with respect to the environment and the need to integrate environmental problems into socio-economic and sectoral policies, as well as into national administrative and productive systems.

After the Earth Summit different international conferences revisited some of the items in Agenda 21 and integrated them into other development issues. For example, the UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat) held in Istanbul in 1996 set goals which included sustainable development into the vision and study of human settlements. Similarly the MDGs include a specific area devoted to this issue. However none of the goals or indicators was sufficiently comprehensive.

In 2002, ten years after the Earth Summit, the World Summit on Sustainable Development took place in Johannesburg. It provided a unique opportunity to adopt specific measures and to identify measurable objectives for improving the implementation of Agenda 21. During the summit it was clear that the vision of sustainable development had shifted towards the concept of “sustainable economic growth” and strengthening of markets.

Measuring the advances and setbacks of countries in environmental commitments is very difficult since complete and up-to-date information is unavailable at an international level.

Agenda 21 presented proposals for sustainability indicator systems which could act as the foundation in decision-making processes: “It is necessary to develop sustainable development indicators to provide a solid foundation for decision making at all levels and to contribute to the self-regulated sustainability of integrated environmental and development systems.”[30]

Sustainable development indicators[31] are an attempt to systematize environment, development and urban growth information. They combine data from economic, social, environmental and institutional areas.

In 2000 a series of indicators were developed for the assessment of MDG 7. The indicators link access to water and sanitation to sustainable development, the environment and land. The series also links variables from sustainable urban and territorial development, habitat, drinking water access and squatter settlements or slums. Additionally MDG 7 aims to reduce by half the percentage of people who lack access to drinking water and calls for a significant improvement in the life of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.

The rapid growth of urban population and its impact on the environment need to be considered. Over 70% of the urban population in poor countries live in squatter settlements or slums where they have no access to basic services such as drinking water and sanitation and where living conditions violate the human rights of the dwellers.

The real progress and regression of countries in achieving international goals is difficult to measure. The only available data measures water and sanitation access, while secure right to tenure or housing quality goes largely unmeasured.

Even though many countries do not have systematized registries with secure tenure data, the UN Statistics Division has published a secure tenure index developed by UN Habitat. The goal is to measure the proportion of homes with secure tenure of the dwelling. This index is new and is currently undergoing an evaluation process. It employs indirect variables to quantify access to secure tenure, given the difficulties of obtaining direct data.[32]

At the same time, the UN Environment Programme has defined a series of variables and indicators to evaluate the environment.[33] The dimensions include indicators (vulnerability, human settlements and sustainable cities); social issues (health, inequity and poverty); and economic aspects (competitiveness, trade and production and consumption patterns, where energy issues are highlighted).

Once again, the majority of the indicators do not have systematized data at the national level. Due to the importance of the issues involved this information is quickly needed. The international community must cooperate in the implementation of regional and national data collection programmes.

On 16 February 2005, the Kyoto Protocol came into force which is a significant event for the environment and habitat. The protocol obliges signatory industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by at least 5% of 1990 levels by 2012. The refusal by the United States to sign the protocol reflects the belief that environmental protection will thwart economic growth.

In addition to the international regulations foreseen in the protocol, it is important to rely on figures which permit evaluation of its implementation and which allow citizens to monitor its progress. These figures must be related to other environment data in order to provide a thorough picture of the situation when it comes to urging governments to comply with international commitments.

In 2002 the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights approved General Comment No. 15,[34] which recognizes the human right to water as an indispensable factor in human dignity. The document explicitly states the connection between water, life and health by linking lack of adequate sanitation to illnesses that do not allow people to enjoy the right to health. Also the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution to declare 2005-2015 the International Decade for Action: “Water for Life” due to the importance of water access for life, in order to reach international goals and in order to lay foundations for future progress.[35]

Ten years after the Copenhagen and Beijing agreements and five years after the Millennium Declaration more than 1.1 billion people do not have access to drinking water (approximately 7% of the world’s population). More than 40% of the world’s population lack basic sanitation services.

The urbanization of poverty must also be examined. According to UN-Habitat,[36] current levels of global urban poverty will grow from 30% to between 45% and 50% by 2020. The report also shows a close inverse relationship between the values reached by the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the proportion of the population living in squatter settlements. According to HDI measurements, there is a larger proportion of people living in settlements in countries with low human development scores. The relationship between squatter settlements, water access, sanitation and housing demonstrates the need for very specific policies to meet the international commitments.

Although the documentation and registration of situations through reports and statistics is the first step in finding solutions to the problem, it is currently impossible to measure progress in secure tenure and housing conditions due to a lack of data. This report therefore will focus on indicators with available information in order to shed light, insofar as the availability of data allows it, on the global water and sanitation access situation.

In studying access to drinking water one cannot leave aside the influence of worldwide changes in urbanization, the impact of globalization on a demographic level (on land, human settlements and natural resources), the growth of urban mobility of citizens and the growth or expansion of cities.

According to UNICEF 20 litres of water a day are needed to cover the basic needs of a child (this amount is equivalent to two pails of water). However approximately 4,000 children die every day simply because they have no access to drinking water.

Gender discrimination is also an issue to be tackled in this area. Due to discrimination in land tenure, as well as access to sources of production and drinking water, women must travel far from their homes. In most cases women have children to take care of and find their areas of opportunity on the outskirts of cities which further increases the population of squatter settlements or slums.

In the agricultural sector, where women have always played a fundamental role, there are still many countries where women face difficulties accessing land tenure (women have been excluded in agrarian reforms in El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua, where they only hold between 4% and 25% of all ownership deeds). In Kenya, a woman can only own land if her husband or children are alive. If she lacks stable income and property deeds she is systematically marginalized from the credit market. Therefore in many African countries where women represent 60% of agricultural labour and 80% of the total food production labour force, they receive less than 10% of the credit granted to small farmers and 1% of total agricultural credit.

Additionally, General Comment No. 15 on water linked the need for drinking water, beyond domestic and personal use, to the production of food and public hygiene and health.

According to UNICEF figures,[37] we currently run the risk of not complying with MDG 7 which is aimed at halving, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water sources within 15 minutes’ walking distance from their dwellings. This figure is currently 1 billion and rising.

If circumstantial conditions such as armed conflict and natural disasters are added to structural ones, complying with international commitments requires additional effort on the part of the national and international communities. For example in March 2003 the Iraq conflict left Basra - one of the first cities to be bombed - with 1 million inhabitants without access to water. These people could only rely on 2 litres of water per day, which is only one tenth of what is stipulated as the minimum for survival. Up until 2003, six million people in Baghdad were without access to electricity, water or telecommunications.

The UN-Habitat[38] report highlights the lack of access to sanitation services in urban settlements. The study suggests that channelling investment towards improving access to sanitation would have a great impact on the living conditions of squatter settlement and slum inhabitants especially women and children. The gap between rural and urban situations is enormous: 73% of urban dwellers have access to sanitation while only 31% of rural dwellers do.

In order to achieve MDG 7, every day 370,000 people without sanitation should have access to it before 2015. Service losses due to natural disasters must be added to the former calculation. The Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 caused regression in the region through the destruction of previous improvements in sanitation, although figures of the destruction are incomplete.

Although the developed world has not reached total access to water and sanitation in all cases (values exceed 90% in both variables), inequalities exist in comparison to developing countries. More than half of the total population without adequate sanitation live in China and India; Sub-Saharan Africa reveals a coverage of only 36.5%. Two-thirds of the people without access to drinking water live in Asia; and Sub-Saharan Africa experiences the worst situation globally with an average of only 36.4%.

The critical situation is compounded by globalization policies which have accelerated privatization trends of basic services such as water. In some countries more than half of the urban population depend on private water suppliers, whose services tend to be more expensive than public ones.[39]

However it is important to note that some African countries, although still with low coverage rates, have made significant progress. This is the case of Ghana which went from 43% sanitation service coverage in 1990 to 58% coverage in 2002. Access to drinking water rose from 54% to 79% over the same period. Another example is Malawi where the proportion of population with sanitation access rose from 36% to 46% between 1990 and 2002, while access to drinking water rose from 41% to 67%, during the same timeframe. Comoros also performed well, increasing access to drinking water from 89% to 94% during the period of 1990-2002.

In Latin America and the Caribbean the situation is improving and the percentage of population with access to sanitary services rose from 69% in 1990 to 78% in 2002. Access to drinking water in the same region improved from 83% to 91% over the same period of time. Guatemala, for example, experienced significant progress in access to water since service coverage rose from 77% to 95% between 1990 and 2002.

Fifty-nine percent of countries have not experienced any change in their situation. Countries above the world average have not undergone major progress: 45 countries in the group did not experience progress or regression. Meanwhile, 3 countries have experienced slight regression, diminishing their coverage of drinking water and sanitation access.

Of the 31 below average countries, 11 have slightly progressed and 15 have made significant progress even though coverage levels continue to be unsatisfactory.

The majority of low-income countries belong to the worse situation categories since they have less coverage. Conversely, better income countries are above average or in a better relative situation. While countries in worse situations have sanitation access coverage of 31%, countries in better situations and with better incomes have 96% coverage. Meanwhile, countries in the worse situations provide 54% water access coverage compared with 98% coverage in countries with better relative situations.

Inequality between countries is very high. Data published in Social Watch show that while in Ethiopia 6 out of every 100 inhabitants have sanitation access, 100% of inhabitants do so in high-income countries such as Norway, the United States and the Netherlands. Afghanistan presents the most serious situation in access to water. In 2002 only 13 of every 100 people could access improved water sources. Similarly to what happens with sanitation access, countries with high incomes have the best indices and in most cases provide complete water access coverage.

There is a strong correlation between countries, their income and their situation in this field. However there are cases that do not follow this trend; for example, Sri Lanka experienced significant progress in sanitary service coverage, improving from 70% in 1990 to 91% in 2002. This ranks Sri Lanka together with those countries in better relative situations.

7.           Gender equity

In the tables presented in the Social Watch Report 2005, the year 1995 was taken as the starting point to measure gender equity progress and regression since this was the year when the Beijing commitments were made. In order to make comparisons, the latest available data in each indicator was selected.

Even though gender inequity cuts across all dimensions of social analysis, specific indicators have been chosen in order to address the main areas where inequity hinders women’s human rights and their evolution.

To alter the traditional role of women in society, and to change relations between men and women both within and outside the domestic environment, represents a complex challenge calling for policy elaboration and evaluation. Indicators and statistics on their evolution are required. There is more and more disaggregated data which demonstrates the differences between men and women in different social indicators however there is no agreement on how to measure gender equity overall in a way which allows for regional or country comparison.

In March 2005 the follow-up conference on the Beijing agreement was held. One of the main conclusions of the conference was that 10 years after Beijing there is still a long way to go before women achieve full access to education, equal remuneration, healthcare, as well as other rights they have been denied for centuries. Although the greatest achievements by women in their struggle against discrimination have been made in rich countries, it must be remembered that women still suffer from discrimination in many of these countries.

The growing participation of women in different areas of society has not guaranteed their recognition in these roles or improved their quality of life. Women cannot fully participate in economic and public life; they have limited access to positions of influence and power; their labour options are fewer and they receive lower remuneration for equal jobs.

Domestic violence is a worldwide phenomenon and one of the primary causes of injury and death for women worldwide. This violence is present throughout the world to different degrees and it is often ignored or tolerated by states on the grounds that it is a private matter.

7. 1.    Education

According to UNESCO data gender equity in education is particularly relevant: at least two-thirds (573 million) of the 860 million illiterate people (the majority living in developing countries) are women.

The majority of illiterate women in the world live in rural areas in developing countries, particularly in Africa, the Arab countries and East and South Asia where illiteracy rates among women exceed 60%. There are 140 million illiterate youth; more than half of them female (86 million). UNESCO projections predict that if present trends continue, by 2015 there will be 107 million illiterate youth, 67 million of whom will be female.

In access to secondary education, most countries have attained gender equity and 63% of countries even have more girls registered than boys. This is due to many boys never completing their secondary education. The 34% of countries with less female enrolment are located mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Poverty levels in these regions, and a cultural preference to better feed and educate males, are decisive factors.

A reverse gender gap exists in other regions such as North Africa, Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. In the latter region, 23 countries register higher female secondary education enrolment, while only 4 countries have higher male enrolment. This is also common in developed countries.

These four indicators together give us a global picture of gender inequity levels in education (Table 16). At the same time, it is of interest to study the recent evolution of inequality in this area. Out of 162 countries with sufficient information, 62 reveal some improvement in education gender equity and no countries have experienced significant regression. Although most countries in better situation are stagnant, among higher inequity countries almost 90% have improved their situation. Half of the countries that were falling behind have experienced significant progress.

Although progress is noted in many countries, gender inequality in access to education still exists in most developing countries and is far from being eradicated.

The largest disparities in primary education access are concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. In secondary education disparities observed in the region are even greater with average values of approximately 0.8.

In tertiary education regional disparities are on the increase. In Western Europe there are 93 women for every 100 men in higher education. In Southeast Asia there are 58 women for every 100 men, in North Africa 63 per 100 and in East Asia 71 women per 100 men. The difference is even greater in South Asia (38 per 100) and in Sub-Saharan Africa (30 per 100). In Latin America, the Caribbean and West Asia, the number of women in tertiary education exceeds the number of men.

Gender inequity in education is revealed in a clearly differentiated way (Chart 11). North America, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean are the areas whose countries display the least inequity, while the remaining regions present heterogeneous situations. Once again, Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where most countries experience serious levels of inequality.

Chart 11. Gender equity in education by region

A comparison of the averages observed for each indicator for the countries in better and worse situations shows significant distances between both groups (Table 17). Even though inequity is evident in all indicators, in certain cases it is reflected with greater intensity. The women/men ratio in tertiary education enrolment rates displays the greatest distance. In the group of countries with greater inequities this ratio reaches an average value of 0.4 while in countries with better situations the average is three times higher at 1.3.

7. 2.    Economic activity

Participation in economic activity is directly related to poverty issues. Seventy per cent of the world’s estimated 1.3 billion poor are women. The situation is the same in both the most rural and the most industrialized societies. Some reasons for the higher feminization of poverty are unequal conditions in access to the labour market and labour discrimination, which result in lower remuneration for women in equal jobs.

Most countries have not been successful in this area. Women do not get equal remuneration for equal jobs. Women’s salaries compared with those of men only approach 90% in five countries: Iceland, Australia, Tanzania, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. An in-depth analysis is needed to explain why this is so in countries with such different contexts.

Studies of gender inequity in economic activity are conducted using two indicators: the percentage of wage-earning women in the non-agricultural sector and the income gap between female and male remuneration in the labour market. Taken together, these indicators show a similar number of countries above and below the world average. (Table 18).

Evolution has been uneven in countries where gender equity in economic activities is in the worst relative situation. Regression took place in some cases while the majority of countries either advanced or remained stagnant. Of the 58 nations below the world average, nine experienced regressions while 22 advanced. The more equal countries have mainly remained stagnant or, in a significant number, progressed towards greater equity.

Participation of women in the non-agricultural sectors is almost on equal standing with the participation of men (around 45% to 55%) in less than half of the countries with available information.

Although there is a global trend towards increased economic participation by women, discrimination still exists in the labour sector. Statistics in this field remain insufficient and scarce in many regions of the world. The International Labour Organization (ILO) informs that of the 13 African countries with available information there is a range of different situations; from Botswana, where women account for 47% of non-agricultural workers, to Chad, where they represent less than 10%. In Central Asia, variation is also great; from Kazakhstan, where women participate on an equal standing with men, to Turkey where they account for less than 10%. These figures underestimate the economic participation of women since they only reflect formal work when in many of these countries, the highest participation indices are found in the informal sector. In East Asia and the Pacific, the participation of women in economic life ranges from 30% to 47%.

In countries with higher gender equity in the economy almost half of the wage-earning population in the non-agricultural sector are women. In the less equal countries women do not even account for one quarter of the working population. Another element that illustrates this same point (Table 19) is the income gap or the women/men income ratio. In countries in better situations this ratio is only 0.65. In the most unequal countries the situation is much worse since women’s incomes constitute only one third of the remuneration of men.

Gender inequity in economic activity on a regional level (Chart 12), illustrates that contrary to what happens with other indicators, the Sub-Saharan African countries are not all in the worst situation. There is significant disparity within almost all regions. The greatest gender inequity in economic activity is in countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. In North America and Europe inequity is lower, although in the latter region there are also countries whose levels of inequity are among the worst worldwide.

Chart 12. Gender equity in economic activity by region

7. 3. Empowerment

Throughout the world women are practically absent from parliament. On average they account for less than 15% of parliament and no systematic differences are observed by region or by income level. The report Progress of the World's Women[40] by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) notes that contrary to what happens in the case of other development aspects women’s level of involvement in politics does not depend on the wealth or poverty of a country.

 
The report stresses that the presence of women in decision-making positions is the only gender inequity indicator which does not vary according to a country’s level of poverty. Some of the richest countries in the world such as the United States, France and Japan, have between 10% and 12% women representation in their parliaments. This is lower than the 13% average in Sub-Saharan African countries which are the poorest countries in the world. In South Africa and Mozambique, the share of women in parliament is 30%, while in Rwanda and Uganda it is 26.7% and 25%, respectively.

The growing number of female members of parliament may be attributed to agreements made in the last decade. Several countries have a self-imposed objective of maintaining 30% women participation in parliament following recommendations from international conferences such as Beijing. However by 2004 only 11 countries attained this goal (Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Norway, Iceland, the Netherlands, South Africa, Costa Rica, Argentina and Mozambique).

To strengthen the position of women in the world is one of the eight objectives established in the Millennium Declaration. Within this framework empowerment is a dimension of growing consideration. Empowerment is measured by the number of women with access to positions of power and decision-making in each country. The presence of women in professional, technical, management, parliamentary and ministerial positions is studied in comparison with men’s participation in the same fields.

In Table 20 we note a large number of countries in situations considerably more unequal tha