Ten years ago in Beijing, a UN summit established a set of goals for ending discrimination against women. That meant equality for women in education and health care, greater representation of women in government and other decision-making positions, and promotion of human rights, including an end to sex trafficking and domestic violence. The conference was notable for establishing that equality for women is a universal right to be observed by every one of the 184 states that signed the document.

Life expectancy has gone up and fertility rates have gone down. But actually implementing these policies in the face of entrenched customs has not been easy. Closing the gender gap in education is a crucial investment in the long-term health and development of the world. Education must also include comprehensive sex education about family pl-anning and protection against sexually transmitted diseases. The US delegation at the UN’s Beijing-plus-10 conference did reaffirm its commitment to abstinence. This is not a realistic option in the countries that are most affected by HIV-AIDS. Still, the US blindly directs fully a third of the prevention funds in its AIDS relief initiative toward abstinence-only education. Women are the bellwethers of a society’s development. These are values worth promoting, on International Women’s Day and every day. — The Boston Globe