Email
Print
Photo: Jerry Galea/Oxfam AUS
Gender
Women make up nearly 70 per cent of the world's 1.3 billion people living in poverty, 65 per cent of the world's refugees and two-thirds of the world's illiterate population. They constitute two-thirds of the exploited informal workforce, own just one per cent of the world's resources, and earn one-tenth of the world's income.
Girls are twice as likely to die from malnutrition and preventable childhood diseases as boys, while almost twice as many women suffer from malnutrition as men. Women constitute less than one seventh of administrators and managers in developing countries, and hold only 10 per cent of seats in the world's parliaments.
Our focus
Tackling gender inequality
Oxfam Australia works to address people's rights, as well as their needs. This means we must address the inequalities that stand in the way of achieving those rights. Power relationships in most communities and countries (not least in Australia) are far from equal: women are not only poorer than men, but face social, economic, political and cultural discrimination on the grounds of gender.
Gender discrimination affects every aspect of women's lives, including the way their needs and rights are addressed in the development process. Too often, women's specific priorities are either overlooked in development projects, or 'tacked on' as an afterthought. Much development work is done without taking gender inequality into account, so that women and children often lose out.
Women: the powerhouse of developing countries
Yet no developing country can afford to ignore women's rights, their existing and potential economic contribution, or their pivotal role in determining the health and welfare of a nation's children. Women are the powerhouse of developing countries: they produce a staggering 60 per cent of all food, run 70 per cent of small-scale businesses and make up a third of the official labour force, in addition to caring for families and homes. Yet their status rarely reflects this contribution.
It is becoming increasingly clear that there will only be sustainable development when women play an equal part in decision-making. Oxfam Australia aims to address women's rights and needs in every aspect of our work. All our projects - from supporting sustainable agriculture in Vietnam to working for peace in the Solomon Islands – are planned and carried out in a way that aims to address the needs and rights of both women and men.
How you can help
Join our aware regular giving program and support initiatives for women to help them obtain loans at fair rates; own and inherit land; receive fair pay; and gain access to resources to feed their children and provide them with an education.
Links
Check out our comprehensive links section on gender issues .
Stories and photos
Gender is not a dirty word
Oxfam's Maureen Bathgate explores what gender is and how we integrate it into our programs and approach.
Women's work
In Sri Lanka, rice is mainly grown by men. But a group of women, with support from Oxfam, are blazing a trail in this male-dominated occupation. Oxfam's Martin Wurt reports.