The World Bank has released a new report on gender disparities this month entitled World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development. The report details types of disparities and practical solutions for all countries facing gender inequality. In addition to the report, the World Bank has provided an interactive eAtlas of Gender. The eAtlas provides over 80 maps with different indicators of gender equality, and allows one to view country specific data.
In the report, one primary area of concern was the finding that approximately 3.9 million women are “missing” each year. Two-fifths of this number stem from prenatal sex selection. It additionally cites high rates of early childhood mortality, adolescence mortality, and early adulthood mortality. Moreover, the report notes that disadvantaged girls have lower school enrollments, women have greater difficulty in finding jobs and other economic opportunities, and that females lack authority in their households.
The report highlighted areas of progress as well, including the narrowing gender gaps in primary and secondary schools, the increases in life expectancy, and the increases in representation in the workforce. In order to capitalize on these successes and extend them further, the report encourages nations to address the problem of higher rates of deaths of girls and women.
The eAtlas of Gender allows users to review all of this data in more detail, including by comparing different maps simultaneously, animating maps to show change over time, and importing one's own data. Each map also includes a brief background on the indicator. A few of the indicators included in this feature are:
Complied from: Gender Equality: The Right and Smart Thing To Do – World Bank Report, The World Bank eAtlas of Gender, The World Bank News & Broadcast (23 September 2011).