United Nations
Development Programme

Gender discrimination is contradictory to the principles of democracy and fundamental freedoms of a human being. Equal rights to women and men are a value in themselves, and any breach of this principle constitutes a violation of human rights. The ability of nations to develop depends on stable democratic rules - which, in turn, have unbreakable links with counteracting discrimination. The quality of governance depends greatly on the extent of using talent, energy and aspirations of all members of a society. Braking the development of half of a society builds permanent barriers to the development of all. Hence, actions undertaken for the benefit of women are not only fair and proper, but also essential to the full development of societies.

Throughout the entire world, including Poland, women have unequal development opportunities, less access to education, IT technologies and other, important resources. Women are not sufficiently represented in politics at any level, as well as in business; they suffer violence, fall victims to trafficking, bear largest burdens related to poverty, conflicts and natural disasters. Power-related inequality mark personal relations between men and women, and gender-related stereotypes are deeply and permanently rooted in all societies. Women suffer from highest illiteracy and unemployment rates, which in turn translate into considerable income differences and, i.e. difficult access to health care. More than half HIV-infected people are women. Gender discrimination which mostly affects women is often closely related to age, ethnic origin, education level, social and economic status and place of residence (urban-rural).

According to UNDP position, gender discrimination is a source of poverty, unequal and low economic growth, high number of HIV infections, poor governments. Ensuring that equal rights between women and men become a reality is a key obligation, undertaken by UNDP and one of the central priorities in all actions undertaken by this organisation.

UNDP perceives gender equality issues to be of horizontal nature, applicable to all UNDP actions grouped in the five focus areas, such as: democratic governments, energy and environment, poverty reduction, HIV/AIDS, crisis prevention and recovery. The objective of UNDP is to introduce issues related to the gender equality into all projects, implemented within the topical groups referred to above.

UNDP is the world leader in the area of gender mainstreaming. The above principle means the assessment of consequences to women and men of all planned actions, inclusive of legislation, policies and programmes in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy to adopt gender problems and the experiences of women and men as an integral dimension of planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and social areas, in order to provide equal benefits and opportunities to women and men. The introduction of gender issues into all programmes and projects is not only an issue of social justice, but also an action necessary to ensure fair and sustainable development to people with the use of most effective and efficient means. The development of societies means enlarging people's choices. There can be no development, when the choices of over half the humanity are being limited. Equal rights of women and men are not a women's problem only - they should become the objective and the task for the entire society.

In the last decade, international community has committed to promote gender equality and to undertake actions aimed at improving the women's situation in the world. One of the Millennium Development Goals applies directly to the equal rights of women and men. The objective of the entire international community is to promote gender equality and social promotion of women. The other two goals refer to reducing the mortality rate of children and mothers by improving health care.

UNDP is a recognised UN system programme, provided with considerable know-how and expertise related to the practical implementation of gender equality. In order to enhance the potential and possibilities for action to the benefit of women, UNDP developed and published a number of documents related to this issue, which are available from the organisation's website.

Author: Marta Rawłuszko, UNDP