ABSTRACT
Gender equality and empowerment of women have been shown to be central to economic, social, and political development. “Study after study has shown that there is no effective development strategy in which women do not play a central role. When women are fully involved, the benefits can be seen immediately: families are healthier and better fed; their income, savings, and reinvestment go up. And what is true of families is also true of communities and, in the long run, of whole countries” (United Nations 2005, 108). In fact, the empowerment of women in development is valued so highly that the United Nations includes this as the third of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/#). Gender equality is a means by which to reduce “poverty, hunger, and disease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable” (United Nations 2005, 107). This chapter examines progress toward gender equality and empowerment in Latin America.
