Those of you interested in statistics and data will love this new UN
report released this week in New York on the state of play for women
around the globe.  It’s not a quick read – at 284 pages!!!! – but
includes a comprehensive review of that women and employment, health,
education and all things in between, along with a fantastic array of
graphs and tables that illustrate perfectly why we must remain focused
on gender equality, all over the word.  A snapshot of some of the report
highlights include data showing:

• In today’s world there are 57 million more men than women –
  largely due to longer life expectancies of women: in all regions women
  live longer than men
• Women still comprise 52% of the labour market and over the past
  two decades women have entered various traditionally male-dominated
  occupations, however they are still rarely employed in jobs with status,
  power and authority. On average only 17% of parliamentary seats around
  the world are held by women, and remain significantly underrepresented
  on corporate boards and executive roles: of the 500 largest corporations
  in the world only 13 have a female CEO.
• There is a persistent pay gap everywhere and while the gender
  pay gap is closing slowing in some countries, it has remained unchanged
  in others.
• There is progress “albeit slow and uneven” in the literary
  status of women and men however women still make up two-thirds of the
  world’s 774 million adult illiterates – a proportion which is unchanged
  over the past 2 decades.  The good news is that there have been positive
  global trends in primary enrollment particularly in developing
  nations.  Secondary enrollments while on the increase, continue to lag
  behind primary education.
• In Europe the average at which women marry is 30, although in
  developing countries this is still below 20 years – and globally the
  fertility rate has declined to 2.5 births per woman
• In spite of labour force changes, women continue to bear most of
  the responsibilities for the home, in caring for children and other
  dependents, preparing meals and completion of housework. When unpaid
  work is taken into account, women’s total work hours are longer than
  men’s in all regions – and this begins in childhood with girls more
  likely than boys to perform unpaid work in the household, and to perform
  more than boys.
• In some parts of the world, women and girls are often more
  burdened by the poverty of their household and their than men and boys.  

Click here to access the full report.