human development

Human development lies in giving women what they want, say data analysis experts.,
The question then, is what do 3.5 billion women around the world really want?

According to Jim Clifton, CEO of Gallup Consulting, one thing women really want is a good job—with the emphasis on good. Not merely an informal job, but a job where their opinions count, a manager who cares about employees, and where employees’ strengths are used and further developed.

“Human development lies in giving women a great job,” because “when the will of 3.5 billion women changes, so does everything else,” said Clifton at the Evidence and Impact: Closing the Gender Data Gap conference at the Gallup Building in Washington, D.C., on July 19.

The challenge of getting women into these jobs lies in two key factors: gender equality and better data.

According to World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, gender equality is a viable means to increase growth and competitiveness of countries.
Economies enlarge as women enter the workforce. The trajectory of population growth can also be affected since having a job impacts how soon a woman marries and how many children she has or doesn’t have, Jim told the conference.

Women impact human development in other ways too. Research shows that in Brazil, for example, when the household income is managed by the mother not the father, a child’s chance of survival is 20 percent greater. In Ghana, giving women the same access to fertilizer and other agricultural inputs as men increases maze yields by up to 70 percent.

Women also foster global security. What data exists, shows that women make unique contributions during peace negotiations, then afterward, they help bring peace agreements to life at the community level, noted U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in remarks at the conference.

The United Nations Development Program’s “Human Development Report” shows how elevating the status of women in developing countries can deliver returns for the entire society. The report shows, Clinton noted, that inequality between men and women can reduce a country’s overall progress in health, education, and standard of living by up to 85 percent.

When making the case for elevating the roles of women “we can’t just rely on moral arguments,” said Clinton. Instead, a rigorous case needs to be backed up with solid evidence. The issue is, accurate data about women’s specific roles in their communities is lacking.
Understanding where data falls short and filling those gaps will give governments and others the right premises for making improvements. “If you imagine what women are thinking—and girls—and you’re wrong, the more you and I go out and lead, the worse we will make the world,” said Jim Clifton.