Women often excel at school and generally have longer life expectancy. But men frequently earn more and are more likely to hold positions of power in political and economic life. The OECD looks at the implications of such inequalities for economic development and what can be done to develop policies for parity. Barriers that prevent women from working or getting the training and education that they need to be more productive impose a cost on society as well as the individual.

Find out more about our work on gender.

Highlights

>> On International Women's Day 2009, the Development Centre will present Wikigender Vol. 2, offering many new features to explore and discuss information on gender equality. Already today, users are invited to test this improved platform, which has been released in its beta version. To visit the site, click on new.wikigender.org.

>> New OECD Index Measures Causes of Gender Discrimination
On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2009, the OECD Development Centre presents a new index to track causes of gender inequality. Drawing on 12 innovative variables, the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) explains why women in many developing countries are deprived of social and economic development. In countries with high SIGI values, building more schools or giving micro-credit to women risk being ineffective when traditions and social norms prevent girls from leaving the house alone or accessing land, technology or information.

>> What evaluation tells us about Gender Equality and Women in development?
Evaluation tells us  that more attention needs to be given to gender equality issues in evaluations of development activities. While more thematic evaluations of gender equality and women’s empowerment are now taking place, progress in incorporating gender perspectives into general evaluations of development assistance has been slow and uneven.

>> Gender and Sustainable Development: Maximising the Economic, Social and Environmental Role of Women
This report summarises the OECD's cross-cutting work on gender and aims to increase understanding of the role of women in maintaining the three pillars – economic, social and environmental – of sustainable development. (March 2008).

>> Brochure about women and men in OECD countries
Indicators are a first step in developing better policies for women and men: the next stage is to understand why differences occur and what we can do about them. This brochure describes OECD projects to help countries improve their gender policies.