Women in the Asia Pacific region have the lowest rates of representation in politics, employment and property ownership, a new report presented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has revealed.

The Asia Pacific Human Development report on gender, which was made public on the occasion of the 100th International Women’s Day today, revealed that women in the Asia Pacific region are socially, physically and economically backward and the progress remains slow particularly in South Asia.

The paltry participation of women in politics is but an extension of their limited bearing on meaningful decision- making in general. To improve that, the condition of the ordinary woman has to be improved first. Also, empowering women means giving them the opportunity to take their lives into their own hands. This is not possible for as long as our archaic mentalities, fuelled by the intervention of religious and socio-cultural groups, keep pushing them down.

The 591-page study released by Freedom House on Wednesday, supported through grants by the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), contends that while women in the region suffer from greater inequality than women elsewhere, they now enjoy greater economic opportunities, access to education, and increased participation in the political process than in years before.
"There are more women entrepreneurs, more women doctors, more women PhDs, and more women in universities, than ever before," said Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House. "However, substantial roadblocks remain for women pursuing careers. These findings remind us of the complexities of women's status in the Middle East."