Gender equality data in the region

On average, women hold less than 19 percent of seats in national parliaments.
Across the region, women earn 26 to 57 percent less than men.
In Eastern and Central Europe, 22 percent of women over the age of 65 are at risk of poverty.
In the Caucasus and Western CIS, 70 percent of illiterate adults are women.
Across the region, women are outliving men by more than 10 years.
In the Balkans and Turkey, women face employment discrimination: only two percent of managerial positions are held by women.
Ours is the only region in the world where the prevalence of HIV and AIDS continues to climb - by a nine -fold increase in less than ten years.

Notable progress has been achieved in the region (See: 2011 Gender Gap report) in areas such as:

However, gender equality is still far from being achieved and major challenges remain, including:

The gap between legislation and implementation
Decent work for women, and measures to counteract labour market segregation
The gender pay gap
Women’s participation in decision-making in national parliaments
The persistence of gender stereotypes, including in the media
A lack of gender-sensitive indicators
Gender-sensitive national policies and programmes
The role of men in advancing gender equality, including through increased sharing of family responsibilities (See: Maternity protection in the context of work-life balance)

Find out more about gender equality in the region, and what UNDP is doing.