Progress of the world’s women 2015-2016: transforming economies, realizing rights

Bringing together human rights and economic policymaking, this report calls for far-reaching changes to the global policy agenda that will transform economies and make women’s rights, and equality, a reality. It takes an in-depth look at what the economy would look like if it truly worked for women, for the benefit of all. Progress makes the case that the alternative economic agenda it outlines would not only create fairer societies, it would also create new sectors of employment, for instance in the care economy. The report is being published as the international community comes together to define a transformative new agenda for sustainable development, 20 years after the landmark Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, which set out an ambitious agenda to advance gender equality. Since the Beijing Conference, significant advances have been made by many societies, particularly in advancing women’s legal rights. However, as Progress shows, in an era of unprecedented global wealth, millions of women are still consigned to work in low paid, poor quality jobs, denied even basic levels of health care, without access to clean water and decent sanitation. Globally, only half of women participate in the labour force, compared to three quarters of men. In developing regions, up to 95 per cent of women’s employment is informal, in jobs that are unprotected by labour laws and lack social protection. Women still carry the burden of unpaid care work, which austerity policies and cutbacks have only intensified. To build fairer, more sustainable economies which work for women and men, a future comprising more of the same will no longer do. Report team Research director: Shahra Razavi Report manager: Laura Turquet Report coordinator: Mika Mansukhani Chapter authors (alphabetical order): James Heintz, Shahra Razavi, Papa Seck, Silke Staab, Laura Turquet Substantive editor: Sally Baden Statistics: Papa Seck, Ginette Azcona, Norberto Rodrigues, Amie Gaye Research assistance: Sophie Browne, Lauren Billi Programme support: Talita Mattos Interns: Chandler Hill, Jonathan Rodriguez, Malcolm Clayton&nbsp