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The Education Gender Gap
Worldwide, more boys attend secondary school than girls, but girls are catching up in many places. The largest gaps in 2000-01 were in eastern and western Africa and south-central and south-eastern Asia . Togo charted the largest gap: just 24 percent of girls are enrolled in secondary school, compared to 54 percent of boys.

Secondary school enrolment is in some cases extremely low for both sexes. In Cambodia , for example, it is 24 percent for boys and 13 percent for girls. In Tanzania and Rwanda , secondary enrolment rates are almost identical for boys and girls, but both are at less than 15 percent.

Note: Some countries may show rates over 100 percent because young people outside the ordinary age for secondary school are enrolled and factored into the total gross enrolment rate. They are not considered part of the potential student population.

Graph source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2003. Global Education Digest 2003: Comparing Education Statistics Across the World. Montreal , Canada : UIS.
Tracking domestic violence
In all societies, to a greater or lesser degree, women and girls are subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class and culture. . . . Violence against women both violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

•  Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, paragraph 112

Unfortunately, national data on measures of gender violence are scarce. Studies also lack consistency, with varying sample sizes, definitions of violence and ages of women surveyed. Comparisons among countries are therefore all but impossible. A World Health Organization multi-country study in November 2004 is addressing these issues. Much more research and survey work in this area is critical for understanding the conditions under which women live and for improving their control over their lives.
After an abortion
Most data on postabortion care (PAC) relates to individual programs funded by NGOs or foreign donors, so the data do not always reflect a country's national policies or programmes. But even information on a country's PAC policy does not reveal the true accessibility of PAC services and counselling because of lags in enforcement and implementation. Further, most developed countries do not have national PAC policies because such services are already integrated into routine medical care, both public and private.
Where Are We Now?
Where To Go From Here?

While significant progress has been made toward the ICPD goals in many countries, enormous obstacles remain. The ICPD Programme of Action projected in 1994 that if the donor community committed US $5.8 billion by 2001 and US $6 billion by 2004 to sexual and reproductive health care programmes, it would meet a third of the need in developing countries. Those countries themselves would provide the rest.

However, donor funding rose from US $1.3 billion in 1993 to only US $2.5 billion (US $2.1 billion in constant 1993 dollars) in 2001—far less than promised. UNFPA estimates that another US $7 billion was allocated from public and private national (domestic) sources for population activities in 2001, but the reliability of that estimate is uncertain.

As suggested in this report, consensus on the choice of indicators remains elusive, at both the program and policy levels. Reliable statistics are also scarce, jeopardising the consistency of monitoring and evaluation.

Further progress will require many steps: a supportive policy environment, the commitment of adequate human and financial resources, partnerships among the various sectors, stronger referral systems and links among services, and greater capacity at the local level. Also critical are better health care infrastructures and information systems.

But we cannot wait until all elements for success are in place. Our efforts to save and improve the lives of millions of women, men and children must continue. We have ten more years to get it right.

Nada Chaya is a Senior Research Associate at Population Action International.

> Next section: Measuring Progress

Jennifer Dusenberry is a Research Assistant at Population Action International.

The authors would like to thank Laura Katzive of the Center for Reproductive Rights and Kimberley Cline of Population Action International for their contributions to this article.