Please leave us your email address and we will e-mail you updates as they occur. International experts discuss how ending gender discrimination is an urgent human rights and global development priority. Frank Loy, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs. U.S. Department of State. Amy Coen, President, Population Action International.
Gender inequality perpetuates poverty, poor health and rapid population growth.
Experience in developing countries over 30 years has shown that when women are offered a full range of choices, they have smaller, healthier and better-educated families than their mothers did. One third of all pregnancies 80 million a year are unintended. Some 500,000 maternal deaths occur each year in developing countries. Now the fourth most common cause of death worldwide and the leading cause of death in Africa, the spread and prevention of infection is inexorably linked to gender inequality. In Africa, HIV positive women outnumber men by 2 million.