The Millennium Development Goals are a UN initiative of eight goals to be achieved by 2015. As the deadline approaches, it is clear that they will not be achieved. I argue that the primary reason for this is the lack of progress in gender equality- that is not ‘gender’ in the strictest sociological terms, but rather based on biological sex. Women and girls are still ignored by most development policies and charities, and when excluding half of the world’s population successful development is not possible. The Goals will fail, and women and girls will still be ignored unless those committed to development acknowledge that culture-shift is necessary and make tangible plans to ensure gender equality.
Gender equality is culturally difficult to achieve because every culture has issues with inequalities between males and females that begin at birth and are reinforced throughout life. The fact is that countries with (at the very least) formal gender equality have better economies, better human rights, lower crime rates, and better lives generally for the majority of the population.
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