Maya Morsy UNIFEM Coordinator Egypt Cairo 10th September

1. Maya Morsy UNIFEM Coordinator Egypt Cairo 10th September

2. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted by 189 member states in the Millennium Summit of United Nations in 2000. These states have pledged to achieve the MDGs by 2015.

3. The Millennium Development Goals: ��� Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Achieve universal primary education Promote gender equality and empower women Reduce child mortality Improve maternal health Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases Ensure environmental sustainability Develop a global partnership for development

4. Analysis ofMDGs The MDGs are: A set of targets; of a quantitative nature; that are time-bound; and express key elements of human development

5. ? the MDGs fail to specify the developmental effect on women despite their important role as beneficiaries and contributors 2 out of 8 goals directly address women (Goal 3 and Goal 5). Yet, these goals do not achieve fairness to women as they concentrate on the quantitative aspect of these goals and their indicators

9. The MDGs in Arab Countries The Arab countries have made progress towards many of the MDGs through initiatives that led to: - A rise in life expectancy, - A decline in child and maternal mortality, - A fall in illiteracy rate, - And a large proportion of the people are enjoying access to safe water and sanitation

10. However�

11. - The progress towards achieving the MDGs is not a constant stable one. Uneven progress, ranging from fast to regressing reflects the dissimilarity between the countries of the region. - Differences in human development within countries are apparent as well. The MDGs in Arab Countries

12. The MDGs in Arab Countries

13. Based on the available data, the countries of the region fall in three groups almost equal in size: ? one-third are on track or ahead of the curve for reaching the 2015 targets, one-third are stagnant or regressing and are unlikely to meet the MDGs without concerted efforts; and one-third lack relevant and reliable data

14. MDGs Tracking Indicators in Egypt

15. Achieving Goal 3: Promoting gender equality and empowering women

16. Goal 3 aims at eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and to all levels of education no later than 2015.

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18. The potential for achieving gender equality in primary schools varies within the region from one country to another. Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory are already close to gender parity Nine countries are expected to meet the target. Another seven need to accelerate their rate of advancement, And two countries need to reverse declining trends.

19. Gender inequalities are also present in employment, where the average share of employed women does not exceed 20% in most cases. The lowest women�s participation is 7% in Yemen, and no country surpasses 30% In the legislative arena, gender equality falls short as women have not been able to occupy more than 25% of the seats of any parliament in the region.

21. generally, maternal mortality declines when skilled health professionals attend births as they can efficiently handle emergencies Yet, despite recent improvements, more than one third of women in countries like Egypt, Morocco, and Yemen still give birth in the absence of professional support. By contrast, other countries in the region like Jordan and Kuwait, less than 5% of births are without professional support.

22. Status of women and the role of MDGs:

24. Women�s contribution to the Economic Process and their Domestic Role The heavy and increasing burden of women�s multiple roles is especially evident in the Arab countries. However, in most Arab countries, women�s contributions to the household and domestic services to their family are often not recognized. Since they are non-income earning activities and do not involve monetary transactions they are not reflected in the national accounts. Moreover, the opportunity costs of women�s time is often neglected. Consequently a �value chain� approach is followed to asses women�s actual contribution and value added to the production process, both financial and non-financial, and accordingly determine their location on the �value chain�. One of the targeted sectors by UNIFEM is the tourism industry in Jordan.Women�s contribution to the Economic Process and their Domestic Role The heavy and increasing burden of women�s multiple roles is especially evident in the Arab countries. However, in most Arab countries, women�s contributions to the household and domestic services to their family are often not recognized. Since they are non-income earning activities and do not involve monetary transactions they are not reflected in the national accounts. Moreover, the opportunity costs of women�s time is often neglected. Consequently a �value chain� approach is followed to asses women�s actual contribution and value added to the production process, both financial and non-financial, and accordingly determine their location on the �value chain�. One of the targeted sectors by UNIFEM is the tourism industry in Jordan.

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27. Women can embrace the other goals and employ them to serve gender equality by gender-sensitizing their indicators. And since women are important key players in achieving the MDGs, this will result in synergy towards achieving the goals on a larger scope.

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