History is likely to judge the progress in the 21st century by one major yardstick: is there a growing equality of opportunity between people and among nations? This is the issue that has begun to dominate the development debate in the final decade of the 20th century. That is entirely appropriate, since the pace of development-robust as it was in the past five decades-has been accom- panied by rising disparities within nations and between nations. The most persistent of these has been gender disparity, despite a relentless strug- gle to equalize opportunities between women and men. The unfinished agenda for change is still considerable. Women still constitute 70% of the world’s poor and two-thirds of the world’s illiterates. They occupy only 14% of managerial and administrative jobs, 10% of parliamentary seats and 6% of cabinet positions. In many legal systems, they are still unequal. They often work longer hours than men, but much of their work remains unvalued, unrecognized and unappreciated. And the threat of violence stalks their lives from cradle to grave. Human Development Report 1995 documents many of these gender disparities. Its detailed tables and analysis are a major indictment of the continuing discrimination against women in most societies. The central message of the Report is clear: human development must be engendered. If development is meant to widen opportunities for all people, then continuing exclusion of women from many opportunities of life totally warps the process of development.