Gender equality, also known as s*xual equality, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing different behaviors, aspirations and needs equally, regardless of gender.
Gender equality is the goal, while gender neutrality and gender equity are practices and ways of thinking that help in achieving the goal. Gender parity, which is used to measure gender balance in a given situation, can aid in achieving gender equality but is not the goal in and of itself. Gender equality is more than equal representation, it is strongly tied to women's rights, and often requires policy changes. As of 2017, the global movement for gender equality has not incorporated the proposition of genders besides women and men, or gender identities outside of the gender binary.
UNICEF says gender equality "means that women and men, and girls and boys, enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and protections. It does not require that girls and boys, or women and men, be the same, or that they be treated exactly alike."
On a global scale, achieving gender equality also requires eliminating harmful practices against women and girls, including s*x trafficking, femicide, wartime s*xual violence, and other oppression tactics. UNFPA stated that, "despite many international agreements affirming their human rights, women are still much more likely than men to be poor and illiterate. They have less access to property ownership, credit, training and employment. They are far less likely than men to be politically active and far more likely to be victims of domestic violence."
As of 2017, gender equality is the fifth of seventeen sustainable development goals of the United Nations. Gender inequality is measured annually by the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Reports.
The Philippines remains as one of the most gender equal countries worldwide with equal opportunities on political and economic leadership for men and women, a World Economic Forum (WEF) report showed. Manila ranked 8th in this year's Global Gender Gap report, higher by 2 notches from last year's ranking. It was the only Asian country in the top 10.
Iceland was hailed as the most gender-equal country this year, followed by Norway, Sweden, Finland and Nicaragua, respectively. Other countries that made it to the top 10 are Rwanda at 6th, New Zealand at 7th, Ireland at 9th, and Namibia at 10th.
Since the report was launched in 2006, the Philippines has consistently been in the top 10, with the WEF attributing this year's rise to "full parity" on political and economic leadership. The WEF also noted that the Philippines was near to closing 80 percent of its overall gender gap, the "highest value" for the country ever recorded by the index. The Philippines also recorded a closer gender gap in terms of economic participation and opportunity due to an increase in wage equality for similar work, the WEF said. In terms of educational attainment, the Philippines ranked first, meaning it has fully closed the gender gap, along with Canada, France, and New Zealand among others. The report, however, noted that Manila needs to improve in closing the gender gap in its health and survival category. Worldwide, the report noted that the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years. The gender gap in the workplace meanwhile will take over 2 centuries more to close. Released on Tuesday, December 18, the 2018 Global Gender Gap Report benchmarked 149 countries on their progress towards gender parity based on political empowerment, labor force participation, educational attainment, and health and survival.
Mainly, our target audience are students from different colleges of Polytechnic University of the Philippines – Sta. Mesa, Manila Campus. These “Iskolar ng Bayan” will participate to our activities, as well as be an advocate for our campaign.
Since we want to have a gender-sensitive community, we must know that all genders play equal parts in determining and shaping the life of the community, as well as all of them are equally empowered and self-directed in their own lives.
The aim of this campaign is to develop a greater understanding of the nature and importance of gender roles and gender relations in development processes which can be applied to promote greater gender awareness, equity, and equality in society.
In effect, all genders are free to express their personalities and are appreciated and respected in diversity. These principle expresses an ideal conception of gender equality from the perspective of the people in the society, which shows that there is still much to do.
