[The women of the world. Population]. / Las mujeres del mundo. Poblacion.

PIP: In all developing countries the number of illiterate women exceeds that of illiterate men, and the difference is most pronounced in Africa. There is usually less difference between the literacy levels of the sexes when male literacy rates exceed 75%. Over 1 billion adults in developing countries are still illiterate, despite the great advances of the past 25 years. 64% of the illiterate are women. Women form about 29% of the nonagricultural labor force in developing countries and 44% in developed countries. Women active in the informal sector are frequently ignored in official statistics. In most countries the salaries of women in nonagricultural employment are significantly lower than those of men. The greatest income disparity between the sexes occurs in East Asia. The maternal mortality rate at the global level is 320/100,000, which translates into approximately half a million maternal deaths each year. The maternal mortality rate within countries ranges from 2000/100,000 in Mali to 2/100,000 in Ireland. The maternal mortality level is almost 40 times higher in developing than developed countries. The number of HIV seropositive adults was estimated at 17.6 million in July 1995, of whom nearly 1/3 had contracted AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region with more infected women than men. An estimated 500,000 women died of AIDS in 1994. Women are the principal guardians of family health and welfare, responsibilities they are not able to fulfill if they lack sufficient education, medical care, or access to employment. Women who head their households are in especially urgent need of an end to exploitation, abuse, and other forms of discrimination.^ieng