Opportunities for All: Gender Thematic Strategy

The Australian Government has committed to remaining a firm and persistent advocate and practical supporter of gender equality, and has identified gender equality as a critical cross-cutting theme across the aid program. Three of the ten development objectives of An Effective Aid Program for Australia specifically address gender equality and the empowerment of women. These are: empowering women to participate in the economy, leadership and education; saving lives of poor women through provision of quality maternal health care services; and enabling more girls to attend school.

Gender equality is central to economic and human development and to supporting women’s rights. Equal opportunity for women and men supports economic growth and helps to reduce poverty.

To deliver real results and improve the lives of women and men, their families, and their communities Australia will organise the work on gender equality and women’s empowerment around four pillars:

Advancing equal access to gender-responsive health and education services
Increasing women’s voice in decision-making, leadership, and peace-building
Empowering women economically and improving their livelihood security
Ending violence against women and girls at home, in their communities, and in disaster and conflict situations.

Australia will continue to invest strongly in improving gender equality across the aid program with a focus on what works, is effective aid and achieves results. This will include a more strategic and targeted focus in the areas where progress has been slow: women’s economic empowerment, women’s leadership, and ending violence against women. We expect the highest levels of expenditure in countries with the most severe gender gaps and constraints, including fragile states and conflict-affected countries.

The gender thematic strategy informs Australia’s program decisions across all sectors:

Promoting opportunities for all—Gender equality and women's empowerment

Photo of two Afghani girls at a desk in a classroom

Investments in women's and girls' education and health lead to reduced rates of maternal mortality, better educated and healthier children and increased household incomes.

Photo: Hans Stakelbeek/FMAX

Why gender equality and the empowerment of women is important

Gender equality is central to economic and human development in a country. Removing inequalities gives societies a better chance to develop. When women and men have relative equality, economies grow faster, children's health improves and there is less corruption. Gender equality is an important human right.

While gains have been made, gender inequalities are still striking given that:

two-thirds of the 800 million people in the world who lack basic literacy skills are female
women hold an average of three per cent of seats in national parliaments in Pacific island countries, and an average of 19 per cent of seats in East Asia
half a million women die each year from complications during pregnancy—99 per cent of them in developing countries.
globally 1 in 3 women and girls experience physical and sexual violence with rates as high as 2 in 3 in some Pacific countries

Australia’s aid program aims to help promote gender equality and empower women in partner countries. This is the goal of Millennium Development Goal 3, and is also central to the achievement of all the other MDGs.

Investments in women's and girls' education and health yield some of the highest returns of all development investments, including reduced rates of maternal mortality, better educated and healthier children and increased household incomes.

Australia’s approach to achieving gender equality extends beyond improving female health and education. It means access to economic resources, participation and leadership in decision making, and respect for the human rights of women, including the right to a life free of violence.

Australia promotes a range of activities to advance gender equality in the aid program.

Recent achievements

Women are given economic opportunities with the support of Australia

In Nepal, more women have secured a livelihood and can participate in economic life. In the 12 months to June 2009, Australian support through the United Nations Development Program’s Micro Enterprise Development Program helped 5,288 women to set up new businesses. These new micro-entrepreneurs employed 5,426 women workers.

Australia has helped more girls attend school

In Bangladesh, Australia has helped more children to attend school. More than 700,000 students, particularly girls who have never enrolled or who have dropped out of mainstream schools, were given the opportunity of an education in the year to June 2009.

Australian support is helping more women take on leadership roles in government, business, schools and within their community

In Papua New Guinea, during 2009, 330 district women's facilitators were trained who will support school boards and their local communities, covering most of the 3,000 primary schools in the country.

In Iraq, women have better access to services and skills to earn an income. In 2008-09, four new women’s community centres supported by Australia, provided women with safe access to health and social services, leadership and literacy training, and income generating activities.

Australia has helped women who were subjected to violence

In Fiji, Australian support has helped give women who have been subjected to violence somewhere to go to get help. During 2009, the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) in Suva and its three district branches provided counselling and support services to more than 3,700 women who had been subjected to violence.

More information about how Australia is responding to violence against women:

Australia is improving the health and wellbeing of women and children

In Kiribati, women and children living in remote areas are healthier. In 2008–09 over 3,000 women and children on the outer islands of Kiribati gained better access to health care through a joint Australia, United Nations Population Fund and the European Union assisted program.

In Nepal, fewer children die due to Vitamin A deficiency. During 2008–09, 3.7 million boys and girls aged between 6 months and 5 years old were provided high-dose vitamin A preventing the deaths of more than 15,000 children.

In Ethiopia, Australia has long supported the work of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, founded by Australian Catherine Hamlin. The hospital provides about 3,000 services per year to expectant mothers with access to trained midwives and health services and to extend such services, its midwifery college is providing training for young women.

In Papua New Guinea, Australian support is assisting women living with HIV/AIDS. A National Gender Policy and Plan on HIV and AIDS (2006-2010), was developed providing policy makers and health workers with a tool to help them respond in a practical way to the many economic, social, legal, political and cultural disadvantages women with HIV/AIDS face.

More information about how Australia is helping to improve the health of women and children:

Women and children have better access to clean water

In East Timor, women and their children have better access to clean water. In 2008-09, approximately 20,000 people (mostly women and children) benefited from better access to drinking water through AusAID support.

Other ways Australia is addressing gender equality:

More information

Related websites

Last reviewed: 23 January, 2012

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