Women Equality and Development

Women constitute half of the world's population and are contributing to the production process silently and invisibly. Social mobilisation makes woman identify her own problems as well as the ways and means of solving them. Women's organisations and the women's movements are trying to achieve that. The focus on women's empowerment has been strengthened by the theoretical advance which enabled a distinction to be drawn between women's practical and strategic gender interests. Women's condition the material situation of her life mean that she has practical needs, resulting from her gender position in society. That gendered position means that she also has strategic needs, needs that challenge the gender hierarchies and other mechanisms of subordination. Majority of women are too poorly positioned to secure full benefits under the Constitution and other legal provisions. (jacket)