Russian Upper House Speaker Notes Progress On Gender Equality, Women's Rights Worldwide

The world has achieved significant progress on gender equality and women empowerment although several challenges such as the feminization of poverty and inequality in access to resources remain unresolved, Russian upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko said on Thursday.

ST. PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2018) The world has achieved significant progress on gender equality and women empowerment although several challenges such as the feminization of poverty and inequality in access to resources remain unresolved, Russian upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko said on Thursday.

"It is fair to say that the situation with ensuring gender equality has been gradually improving, the influence of women has been growing in all areas," Matviyenko said at the Eurasian Women's Forum in St. Petersburg.

The majority of countries could soon fully close the gender gap in education and employment, the lawmaker stressed, adding that today almost 20 percent of parliaments are headed by women.

"At the same time, we should recognize that many old problems remain unresolved. First of all, it is the feminization of poverty. About 70 percent of the world's poor are women," the Russian Federation Council speaker underlined, adding that women also own less than 20 percent of the world's land.

The three-day Eurasian Women's Forum, focusing on women empowerment, started on Wednesday and features a whole range of international discussion platforms, meetings and debates. The event is attended by officials from international organizations such as the Council of Europe, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and the United Nations, as well as national delegations.