Empowering women




The empowerment of women has relatively recently become a significant area of discussion with respect to development and economics; however it is often regarded as a topic that only addresses and primarily deals with gender inequality. Because women and men experience poverty differently, they hold dissimilar poverty reduction priorities and are affected differently by development interventions and poverty reduction strategies. In response to the socialized phenomenon known as the feminization of poverty, policies aimed to reduce poverty have begun to address poor women separately from poor men. In addition to engendering poverty and poverty interventions, a correlation between greater gender equality and greater poverty reduction and economic growth has been illustrated by research through the World Bank, suggesting that promoting gender equality through empowerment of women is a qualitatively significant poverty reduction strategy.

Gender equalityedit

Addressing gender equality and empowering women are necessary steps in overcoming poverty and furthering development as supported by the human development and capabilities approach and the Millennium Development Goals. Disparities in the areas of education, mortality rates, health and other social and economic indicators impose large costs on well-being and health of the poor, which diminishes productivity and the potential to reduce poverty. The limited opportunities of women in most societies restrict their aptitude to improve economic conditions and access services to enhance their well-being.

Mainstreaming genderedit

Gender mainstreaming, the concept of placing gender issues into the mainstream of society, was established by the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women as a global strategy for promoting gender equality; the UN conference emphasized the necessity to ensure that gender equality is a primary goal in all areas of social and economic development, which includes the discussion of poverty and its reduction. Correspondingly, the World Bank also created objectives to address poverty with respect to the different effects on women. One important goal was the revision of laws and administrative practices to ensure women's equal rights and access to economic resources. Mainstreaming strengthens women's active involvement in poverty alleviation by linking women's capabilities and contributions with macro-economic issues. The underlying purpose of both the UN and World Bank policies speaks to the use of discussion of gender issues in the promotion of gender equality and reduction of poverty.

Strategies to empower womenedit

Several platforms have been adopted and reiterated across many organizations in support of the empowerment of women with the specific aim of reducing poverty. Encouraging more economic and political participation by women increases financial independence from and social investment in the government, both of which are critical to pulling society out of poverty.

Economic participationedit

Women's economic empowerment, or ensuring that women and men have equal opportunities to generate and manage income, is an important step to enhancing their development within the household and in society. Additionally, women play an important economic role in addressing poverty experienced by children. By increasing female participation in the labor force, women are able to contribute more effectively to economic growth and income distribution since having a source of income elevates their financial and social status. However, women's entry into the paid labor force does not necessarily equate to reduction of poverty; the creation of decent employment opportunities and movement of women from the informal work sector to the formal labor market are key to poverty reduction. Other ways to encourage female participation in the workforce to promote decline of poverty include providing childcare services, increasing educational quality and opportunities, and furthering entrepreneurship for women. Protection of property rights is a key element in economically empowering women and fostering economic growth overall for both genders. With legitimate claims to land, women gain bargaining power, which can be applied to their lives outside of and within the household. The ability and opportunity for women to lawfully own land also decreases the asset gap that exists between women and men, which promotes gender equality.

Political participationedit

Political participation is supported by organizations such as IFAD as one pillar of gender equality and women's empowerment. Sustainable economic growth requires poor people to have influence on the decisions that affect their lives; specifically strengthening women's voices in the political process builds social independence and greater consideration of gender issues in policy. In order to promote women's political empowerment, the United Nations Development Programme advocated for several efforts: increase women in public office; strengthen advocacy of women's organizations; ensure fair legal protection; and provide equivalent health and education. Fair political representation and participation enable women to lobby for more female-specific poverty reduction policies and programs.

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