Achieving Gender Equality To Develop A Country

By: Hevee Khorshed Ali

Achieving Gender Equality To Develop A Country  Hevee Khorshed Ali Can gender equality help a country’s development? Gender equality is a  vital matter in Iraq and the whole world. For a country to develop they need  to value every gender equally. Gender equality is not only about education,  rate of employment, or financial involvement, but also fair decision-making  rights, shared management of wealth and income, personal security,  mobility, fair interpersonal relations, and having a voice. Gender equality  increases the life expectancy of both men and women, decreases the  divorce rate, prevents violence against women and girls, and has many  other advantages. In countries where women are allowed an education,  equal wages, and rights, men don’t have to feel it’s a burden.  

A society that values gender equality is safer and healthier not only for  women but for their families, their country, and for the international  economy. The President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim stated that  women’s low economic participation has created income losses of 27  percent of potential GDP in the MENA Region (Abbott, 2017). When  women are economically empowered the country’s wealth and society also  grow as well as its GDP. Women are still considered second-class citizens  in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions, meaning they have no  legal equal rights as men.  

In Islamic countries or countries that prioritize traditions and culture  achieving gender equality has been tough because of their beliefs and  cultures, but I say that culture is made by people and people can change it  too slowly we must raise awareness about these topics in order to attain  gender equality. Justice and equality are basic principles in Islam and  shari’a therefore, I believe that gender equality and the empowerment of  women are contradictory to Islam. In Iraq’s patriarchal culture, it’s believed  that giving women their rights and freedom will take away men's rights.