Gender Equality
Equal rights and opportunities for girls and boys help all children fulfil their potential.
Challenge
Of the 625 million children in South Asia, approximately 295 million (nearly 50 per cent) are girls.
Heartbreakingly, most girls in South Asia have to constantly contend with patriarchal values and harmful gender norms that prioritize men and boys over them.
These deep-seeded forces and attitudes follow girls throughout their lives – through childhood and adolescence, into their reproductive years and old age. They rob them of opportunities and resources at home, school and in the workplace and shape their health, safety, education and the very course of their lives. And they impact girls from minority groups, disadvantaged castes, religions, poorer backgrounds and girls with disabilities the most.
Girls are 3 times less likely to go to school than boys and have 5 times less access to phones than boys, depriving them of opportunities to learn and communicate. Despite the fast digital growth in the region, the gap between girls’ and boys’ access to and use of digital platforms has widened. Even for girls that do get to go to school, most are likely to drop out before completing their education than their male peers. As a result, 35% of women in South Asia cannot write or understand a short, simple sentence. Likewise, 46.5% of young women are not participating in any form of education, employment or training opportunities.
Gender inequality also impacts what girls are given to eat. One in every five adolescent girls in the region are malnourished. Poverty and preference for sons over daughters often leads to female feticide and infanticide as well as discrimination in breastfeeding. In some countries, this has resulted in significantly more boys being born than girls. And when crisis hits, unequal power relations leave girls more vulnerable to violence and with less access to primary health care services.
Over the past few decades significant gains have been made for girls in South Asia. Gains in primary education, health, child survival, poverty reduction and child marriage are supporting more girls to break through barriers and realize their full potential.
Tragically, the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed many hard-won gains for women and girls in the region. During COVID-19 lockdowns women and girls spent more time doing household chores and providing care than men and boys. These duties stopped girls from learning, leaving them further behind their male peers.
As families faced greater financial distress due to the pandemic, more girls were pushed into early and forced marriage. In South Asia, 1 in 4 girls are married before their 18th birthday. Among girls aged 15 to 19 that have either formerly been married or are currently married, 19% have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner.
Opportunity
If we tackle the root causes of gender inequality, bold transformative change is possible.
When girls, regardless of their background, are healthy, educated and empowered to make their own decisions, they can become change-makers and world shapers in their communities. This also significantly contributes to the country’s economic prosperity and development.
We can create a more equal world for every girl. To do so, we must address the underlying gender norms that deprive the most marginalized adolescent girls of their basic human rights.
This can be done through advocacy and engaging with girl-led networks and organizations and men and boys’ alliances too.
Equipped with the right resources and opportunities, South Asia’s 295 million girls can become the largest generation of female leaders, entrepreneurs, and change-makers the world has ever seen.
We know that investing in adolescent girls has a positive ripple effect across generations. For example, economies that achieve 100% secondary school completion rates for girls by 2030 could see their GDP being boosted by an average of 10%.
What UNICEF is doing
UNICEF South Asia is committed to advancing gender equality and girls empowerment through investments and interventions that address gender barriers, including targeted interventions to unlock girls’ potential and build their leadership. We are working at all levels – with girls themselves, with girl-led organizations, communities, government and the private sector – to make sure every girl in South Asia has an opportunity to survive, thrive and fulfil her true potential.
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We are creating opportunities for girls’ voices to be heard, to build their agency and their leadership for transformative change.
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We are providing sexual and reproductive health services and mental health support services for adolescent girls to ensure physical and mental well-being of adolescent girls to prevent girls from mental health issues like depression and anxiety and adolescent pregnancy.
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We are ensuring girls’ nutrition is prioritised and that girls are receiving primary quality health care services and nutritional information, and iron and folic acid supplements to protect against anaemia.
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We are addressing misinformation and negative perceptions toward girl nutrition and menstruation health by investing in mothers with antenatal care services and breastfeeding sessions and girls with menstrual hygiene management.
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We are delivering equal and accessible education to all girls, who are both in school and out-of-school including girls in hard-to-reach areas. In 2022, UNICEF’s community-based education and early childhood education programs supported over 860 thousand girls in South Asia.
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We are working with governments and partners to provide girls with 21st-century skill to bolster their employability and diversify their economic opportunities. In South Asia, UNICEF’s UPSHIFT, Rupantaran and Skills4Girls programs provided skill-based trainings to over 20 million girls in 2022.
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We are collaborating with governments and other stakeholders to strengthen policies, systems and budgets to protect girls’ rights and ensure services are available for the most vulnerable adolescent girls.
Resources
These resources represent a selection of materials produced by UNICEF and its partners in the region. The list is regularly updated to include the latest information.
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Last update: July 2023
