SEXIST ATTITUDES COSTS ASIA $80 BILLION A YEAR? [+] serious ballot by xxxxxxxx ACTIVE Thu Apr 19, 07 - Fri Apr 18, 08 "BANGKOK (Reuters) - Discrimination against women by restricting access to schools, hospitals and jobs is costing Asia-Pacific countries nearly $80 billion (40 billion pounds) a year, the United Nations said on Wednesday. "The Asia-Pacific region has made good progress in reducing gender discrimination in recent years, but appalling disparities remain," the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) said in its annual survey. Rather than being an issue purely of human rights, the exclusion of women from the workplace was imposing a direct economic cost on countries, it said. If India, for example, raised the proportion of working women to levels comparable to the United States, it would boost annual gross domestic product by more than one percent, or $19 billion, the report said. Malaysia and Indonesia -- both predominantly Muslim countries -- could also reap substantial economic benefits by getting more women into the workforce, it added. The effect in China, however, would be more muted as the proportion of women workers was already considerably higher than elsewhere in the region. Girls in many countries also found it harder to get an education, with female enrolment rates at primary schools in some countries as much as 26 percent lower than males, the report said." (Source: Reuters) - Do you believe that part of the reason of the West's economic success is its embracement of women's rights? Yes No Ballot #114119 : SEE RESULTS Comment: show your vote with comment?

v 2.0

© BESTANDWORST.COM

smile bank: