By César Chelala

A growing number of countries have adopted population and development policies to meet the health-care and education needs of women, including their reproductive health needs. Nonetheless, gender inequality persists in most countries around the world. According to the State of World Population Report 2005 by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), gender inequality hinders not only the growth of affected individuals but also the evolution of societies and the development of countries.

The findings of the UNFPA report are pertinent to the situation of women in the Czech Republic. Although progress has been made in recent times, there are still areas that need further improvement, among them those related to access to quality jobs and violence against women.

Before the beginning of the European Union accession process, articles 1 and 3 of the Czech Constitution guaranteed equal rights for men and women. At the same time, the EU negotiations brought important changes to national labor legislation, including a marked improvements in women's rights. Although there was hope that these legal changes would eliminate discriminatory practices against women in the labor market, those changes haven't yet materialized.

In the Czech Republic, political participation of women remains low, women still have not conducted sustained legal action against discriminatory practices in the labor market, and not enough changes have taken place either from the legal or the practical point of view to protect women against the curse of domestic violence. There are not enough places in the shelters for female victims of domestic violence, and shelters with secret addresses are practically nonexistent in the country.

It has been demonstrated that greater equality in the power relations between women and men, combined with increased access to adequate reproductive health services, would save the lives of thousands of women. In addition to its effects on women's health, gender inequality undermines the possibility of reducing their poverty. Several studies have shown that societies with the greatest gender discrimination are poorer and have slower economic growth and lower quality of life than those with less discrimination.

Although 99 percent of maternal deaths during pregnancy and delivery are preventable, it has been estimated that 529,000 women died from complications of pregnancy and childbirth in 2000. That is the equivalent of one maternal death every minute, and almost all occur in developing countries. In addition, for every woman who dies during pregnancy and delivery, approximately 20 more suffer serious harm — adding up to 10 million to 20 million mostly preventable injuries a year. Maternal deaths are practically nonexistent in industrialized countries.

Maternal death has immediate and long-term consequences on families and communities such as increased risk of infant and child mortality. Because mothers maintain family cohesion, their death can have devastating psychological and economic consequences for family members.

Education is another area with significant disparities between men and women. Internationally, there are 600 million illiterate women compared to 320 million men. While access to primary education has increased in total numbers, still only 69 percent of girls in southern Asia and 49 percent in sub-Saharan Africa are able to complete primary school. The percentages are even lower when secondary-level education is considered.

Higher education levels among women are associated with better economic prospects, better reproductive health and higher awareness of the dangers posed by risky behaviors that lead to HIV/AIDS. Children of educated mothers also benefit, since for every year of a mother's education there is a 5 percent to 10 percent drop in the risk of her child dying before its fifth birthday.

Good reproductive health can also result in economic benefits through what has been called the "demographic dividend." Reasonable family sizes mean that a higher proportion of young parents have fewer dependents to support. Limiting reproduction means slower population growth, which in turn diminishes competition for natural resources. Economists attribute the unprecedented growth of East Asian economies from 1965 to 1990 to a lower birthrate.

From an economic point of view, much of women's work is still unrecognized and poorly paid, even though in developing countries rural women are responsible for 60 percent to 80 percent of food production. According to the World Bank, women still earn an average of 75 percent of men's pay for the same jobs.

Violence against women continues to be a curse worldwide, affecting all societies and all social strata. The toll of violence on women's health is greater than that of traffic accidents and malaria combined. Gender-based violence can take many forms and includes domestic violence, rape, female genital mutilation and "honor" and dowry-related killings.

To achieve a more equal and just society means addressing all forms of gender inequality. Such a move in turn can improve access to health care and economic and educational opportunities, and can lead to greater respect for every woman's human rights.

Ensuring equality of rights in terms of education, health, jobs, property and credit, as well as fostering women's participation in public life, will contribute to reducing child mortality, improving public health, slowing population growth and stimulating economic growth. Societies' progress should be judged for their efforts to lower the gap between women and men's rights.