Gender equality and human development: the instrumental rationale

Along with the halving of income poverty in the world, the MDGs are concerned with other dimensions of poverty which relate to human capabilities. Some of these goals and their associated targets and indicators relate to 'first-order' basic needs, such as nutrition, child survival and morbidity, maternal health and general health status , which are the necessary preconditions for a healthy, active life. Others relate to a second order of needs which improve the quality of life and the capacity for agency: these include access to contraception, education, economic opportunities and political representation.