Almost half of the adult women are illiterate in the South Asia, says a UN Development Programme (UNDP) report. The gender gap indicators for South Asia are often close to or lower than those in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some of the key findings of the report are:
 

• More women die in childbirth in South Asia – 500 for every 100,000 live births – than in any other part of the world except sub-Saharan Africa.
• China and India together account for an estimated 85 million of missing women. The report founds that missing women estimated to have died from discriminatory treatment in health care, nutrition access or pure neglect.
• More boys than girls are born in Asia as a whole than in any other region of the world. The divide is increasing over time.
• Women earn less than men in Asia-Pacific countries – women earn 54 to 90 percent of what men earn.
• Only about one – third of Asia – Pacific countries have a gender quaota in place for Parliament.
• Women’s parliamentary representation is about 33 percent in Nepal and 29 percent in Timor – Leste.
• A majority of women in the region – and up to 85 percent in South Asia – are in “vulnerable” employment, such in low end self-employment, far above the global average of 53 percent.
• Women in the Asia-Pacific region head only 7 percent of farms, compared to 20 percent in most other regions of the world.
• Women earn less than men in Asia-Pacific countries – women earn 54 to 90 percent of what men earn.

The report recommended the policy makers to correct gender imbalances by supporting the economic empowerment, promoting political voice and advancing legal rights of women.

Read the entire report: http://undp.org.in/sites/default/files/APHDR2010.pdf