Women, Development, and the UN: A Sixty-Year Quest For Equality and Justice

In Women Development and the UN, internationally noted development economist and activist Devaki Jain traces the ways in which women have enriched the work of the United Nations from the time of its founding in 1945. Synthesizing insights from the extensive literature on women and development and from her own broad experience, Jain reviews the evolution of the UNs programmes aimed at benefiting the women of developing nations and the impact of womens ideas about rights, equality and, social justice on UN thinking and practice regarding development. Jain presents this history from the perspective of the southern hemisphere which recognizes that development issues often look different from the standpoint of countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The history that Jain chronicles reveals both the achievements committed networks of women in partnership with UN and the urgent work remaining to bring equality and justice to the world and women.