Gender and Development in the Middle East and North Africa: Women in the Public Sphere (Orientations in Development.)

Decades of investment and improved policies have greatly increased women's education and health and have reduced their fertility rate. However, the expected payoffs in higher employment and economic growth have not materialized. Because of cultural and political barriers, only a third of women are in the labor force - the lowest rate in the world. Future economic growth must rely on human resources rather than on the natural resources relied on in the past. Women remain a huge, untapped reservoir of human potential. Gender issues have been seen as a peripheral concern that resided mainly within the realm of the social sectors. Yet gender is ultimately also an economic issue. Gender and Development in the Middle East and North Africa recognizes the complexity of gender issues, explores the causes of gender inequality, and proposes an agenda for change. Also included is a CD-ROM containing household survey data and a statistical appendix. Annotation. Gender inequality--"the differential access to opportunity and security for women and girls--"has become an important and visible issue for the economies of the Middle East and North Africa. It analyzes the potential of women's greater economic contribution to the region's new development model, identifies key economic and sociopolitical impediments to women's increased labor force participation and empowerment, and suggests a way forward in developing an agenda for change "Gender and Development in the Middle East and North Africa recognizes the complexity of gender issues, explores the causes of gender inequality, and proposes an agenda for change. The book has been endorsed by two tireless advocates for gender equality: Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan and Shirin Ebadi."--Jacket