Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) –Despite the progress of recent years, social discrimination against women remains a serious problem, which not only has grave social consequences, but also causes heavy economic losses.   A report by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), states that the region is losing about 42 billion to 50 billion dollars annually because of restrictions on women’s access to employment opportunities.

 According to the study paper by the Bangkok based UN group, sexual discrimination in the fields of education and employment persist, while progress has been made in female participation in the world of politics.

 Female primary school enrolment is about 26 per cent lower than that of males, while violence against women continues unabated in the region. “In some countries, - states the report - one in every ten girls dies before reaching the age of one, and one in every 50 women dies during pregnancy and delivery”.

Still, the Asia-Pacific region, which produced women leaders in seven countries (India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Zealand), has made tangible progress in several other areas. Since 1997, the number of women parliamentarians in the region has increased by 50 per cent. The largest representation of women in parliaments was in New Zealand, followed closely by Vietnam, Turkmenistan and East Timor. The lowest representation was in Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh (which produced two women prime ministers) and Vanuatu. There has been “tangible progress” also in other sectors.  Women’s life expectancy has increased from 44 years during 1950-1955 to 70 years in 2000-2005.

Robert Vos, director of the UN’s development policy and analysis division said the region is losing about 42 billion to 50 billion dollars annually because of restrictions on women’s access to employment opportunities. At the same time, he said, the Asia-Pacific region is also losing an additional 16 to 30 billion dollars a year because of gender gaps in education. “If female workforce participation was placed on a par with developed countries, such as the United States, - argues Vos - India’s gross domestic product (GDP) would increase by about 1.08 percentage points — a gain of about 19 billion dollars”.