Gender Equality

Gender is the socially constructed ideas and practices of what it is to be male or female. CORD is committed to addressing the issue of gender equality as one of the three priority issues to be addressed across our work.

This means looking at the social roles which have been assigned to men and women, and results in them being valued differently, as in many societies men have more rights and opportunities.

Over the last century the role of the women has changed significantly, and major steps have been made towards gender equality.

In many countries, women have achieved the right to vote, to own their own property, and to be heads of states, things which at one time where unthinkable given the social roles assigned to them.

However in numerous other countries, particularly in the developing world, much remains to be done:

• 70% of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty today are women
• two-thirds of the world's 876 million illiterates are women
• two-thirds of primary school age children denied education are girls
• women produce nearly 80% of the food globally, but receive less than 10% of agricultural assistance
• 65-80% of refugees and displaced people are women
•  women only hold 16% of seats in national parliaments worldwide

(Source: Progress on World’s Women’s report 2005 and MDG 2005 report)

Gender inequalities are often seen at their worst in conflict, with violence against women becoming an increasingly discussed and acknowledged part of the struggle. This is particularly true where rape is used as a systematic weapon of war, as was the case in the Rwanda, Bosnia and Sierra Leone, and currently is in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

CORD addresses gender in all its work, recognising that long term sustainable development and peace cannot be achieved without addressing the inequalities that exist between men and women.

CORD places significant emphasis on addressing violence against women in all its relief and development work, either operational or implemented by its partners.

 In addition, CORD is committed to increasing the participation of women in peacebuilding processes across the countries in which it works.

Overall, CORD works to empower women and girls to play an active role in the peaceful development of their communities and societies.