Beijing followup

The report acknowledges that there has undoubtedly been significant progress made in the social, political and economic status of women, including:

- the primary and secondary school enrollment of girls has increased significantly in many parts of the world

- female illiteracy has declined- mortality rates for women have decreased in many countries- the decline in fertility rates and an increase in contraception use has reduced the risk of maternal mortality and has lessened the burden of unpaid domestic work

- there are more and more women participating in public life in many countries

However the paper also gives several examples of slow progress, or lack of progress, made in reducing gender inequalities, including the following:

- women still make up only 16 percent of national political representation

- in some countries in Eastern Europe, Central Europe and Central Asia, women's political representation has fallen by as much as 50 percent since the former communist party quota system was abolished

- women continue to make up the bulk of workers in low paying, low status jobs with little job security, and tend to be concentrated at the bottom of the occupational hierarchy

- in the private sphere, women are still largely responsible for most of the family care and domestic work throughout their lives

The report also goes on to discuss policies and politics that have contributed to the progress as well as the setbacks faced in reducing gender inequality.