This year's World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development argues that gender equality is a core development objective in its own right. It is also smart economics. Greater gender equality can enhance productivity, improve development outcomes for the next generation, and make institutions more representative.

The Report stresses that despite the overall progress, primary and secondary school enrolments for girls remain much lower than for boys for disadvantaged populations in many Sub-Saharan countries and some parts of South Asia.  ICN’s Girl Child Education Fund seeks to address this issue by supporting the primary and secondary education of girls under the age of 18 in four sub-Saharan African countries.  For more information go to www.fnif.org/girlfund.htm:

The Report focus on four priorities for domestic policy action:

• Addressing excess deaths of girls and women and eliminating gender disadvantage in education where these remain entrenched.
• Closing differences in access to economic opportunities and the ensuing earnings and productivity gaps between women and men.
• Shrinking gender differences in voice within households and societies.
• Limiting the reproduction of gender inequality across generations.