Editing Millennium Development Goals (section)

=== Millennium Development Goal 3 (gender equality) ===
[[File:Geena Davis at the podium (9922450166).jpg|thumb|The Hollywood actress [[Geena Davis]] in a speech at the MDG Countdown event at the [[Ford Foundation]] in New York, addressing gender roles and issues in film such as her organization's work in combating [[inequality in Hollywood]] (24 September 2013)]]
Increased focus on gender issues could accelerate MDG progress, e.g. empowering women through access to paid work could help reduce child mortality.<ref name="Kabeer, Naila 2003">Kabeer, Naila. 2003. ''Gender Mainstreaming in Poverty Eradication and the Millennium Development Goals: A Handbook for Policy-Makers and Other Stakeholders''. Commonwealth Secretariat.</ref> In [[South Asia]]n countries babies often suffered from [[low birth weight]] and high mortality due to limited access to healthcare and maternal [[malnutrition]]. Paid work could increase women's access to health care and better nutrition, reducing child mortality. Increasing female education and workforce participation increased these effects. Improved economic opportunities for women also decreased participation in the sex market, which decreased the spread of AIDS, MDG&nbsp;6A.<ref name="Kabeer, Naila 2003" />

Although the resources, technology and knowledge exist to decrease poverty through improving gender equality, the political will is often missing.<ref name="Grown, Caren 2005">{{cite journal |last1=Grown |first1=Caren |year=2005 |title=Answering the Skeptics: Achieving Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals |journal=Development |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=82–86 |doi=10.1057/palgrave.development.1100170 |s2cid=83769004}}</ref> If donor and developing countries focused on seven "priority areas", great progress could be made towards the MDG. These seven priority areas include: increasing girls' completion of secondary school, guaranteeing sexual and reproductive health rights, improving infrastructure to ease women's and girl's time burdens, guaranteeing women's property rights, reducing gender inequalities in employment, increasing seats held by [[women in government]], and combating violence against women.<ref name="Grown, Caren 2005" />

It is thought by some women's rights' advocatess that the current MDGs targets do not place enough emphasis on tracking gender inequalities in poverty reduction and employment as there are only gender goals relating to health, education, and political representation.<ref name="Kabeer, Naila 2003" /><ref>[[Noeleen Heyzer]]. 2005. "Making the Links: Women's Rights and Empowerment Are Key to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals". ''Gender and Development'', Vol.&nbsp;13, No.&nbsp;1, Millennium Development Goals (March 2005), pp. 9–12</ref> Feminist writers such as [[Naila Kabeer]] have argued that in order to encourage women's empowerment and progress towards the MDGs, increased emphasis should be placed on gender mainstreaming development policies and collecting data based on gender.

According to MDG Monitor, the target under MDG 3 "To eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005, and in all levels of education by 2015" was met.<ref name="Monitor">{{Cite web |date=15 November 2016 |title=MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women |url=http://www.mdgmonitor.org/mdg-3-promote-gender-equality-and-empower-women/ |access-date=1 December 2016 |quote=Gender disparity has reduced dramatically at all levels of education in the developing regions since 2000, hitting the MDG target.}}</ref>

However MDG monitor points out that while parity has been achieved across the developing world, there are regional and national differences favouring girls in some cases and boys in others.  In secondary education in "Western Asia, Oceania, and sub-Saharan Africa, girls are still at a disadvantage, while the opposite is true in Latin America and the Caribbean – boys are at a disadvantage."  Similarly in tertiary education there are disparities "at the expense of men in Northern Africa, Eastern Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean" while conversely they are "at the expense of women in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa."<ref name="Monitor" />