In the new multimedia report released by the United Nation's Development Fund for Women, Progress of the World's Women 2008/2009: Who Answers to Women - Gender and Accountability, the authors found that while women have made great strides ranging from politics to personal rights there is still one thing that serves as a powerful constraint on women's achievement — the lack of accountability to women.

"Accountability from a women’s rights perspective exists when women are able to get explanations from those in power for actions that affect them, and can set in motion corrective actions when those responsible fail to promote their rights. Building accountability for gender equality is not a luxury, it is a necessity.” said Inés Alberdi, UNIFEM executive director. She added that the issue of accountability was at the core of UNIFEM’s work.

While the report shows that women are running for political office in growing numbers and currently occupy an average of 18.4% of the seats in national assemblies, exceeding 30% of representatives in national assemblies in 22 countries, there is still a lot that lacks for women.

The report is broken down into six sections: Politics, Services, Markets, Justice, Aid & Security. Each section highlights the deficiencies that exist for women to advance and the corrective measures needed to make it happen.

Given that this is a multimedia report, as well as, a print product, interactive features bring the information alive for readers in easy-to-digest chunks that let readers fully absorb the important information without being overwhelmed.

Yet, there's no way to be disappointed that things aren't better than they are.