Even sub-Sahara pips South Asia

East Asia and the Pacific are pulling ahead of South Asia on most indicators of gender equality such as health, adult literacy and economic participation. The divergence has become so magnified that today South Asia ranks close to or lower than sub-Saharan Africa, at the bottom of the heap.

This was revealed in UNDP's Asia Pacific Human Development Report, released on Monday. South Asia's lack of gender equality is a cause of great concern as the region accounts for almost a quarter of the world's population and within the region India accounts for about 73% of the population.

UNDP administrator Helen Clark while releasing the report warned: "High GDP does not automatically deliver human development. That can happen only from more deliberate public policy interventions. The boost to the economy that would result from greater participation of women should result in investment in those specific sectors that will benefit them for gender equality to become a reality." 

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Even-sub-Sahara-pips-South-Asia/articleshow/5661091.cms