[Document Subtitle]
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Thameem Ansari
[Company Name]
INDEX
INTRODUCTION
EMPOWERMENT – MAKING WORLD A BETTER PLACE
HISTORICAL EVENTS
• POSITION OF WOMEN IN INDIA
• NEED FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
PRICIPLES OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
STATUS OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
ROLE OF EDUCATION
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
• EDUCATION
• POVERTY
• HEALTH AND SAFETY
MEANS OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
• COMMUNICATION SKILLS
• POWER OF INTERNET
URGENCY FOR INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT
REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE IN SPORTS
IMPORTANCE OF LEGAL RIGHTS
GENDER EQUALITY AND ITS IMPACT
REAL LIFE STORIES
ENHANCEMENT OF POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT
FEMINIST APPROACHES
• RAISING CONCIOUSNESS
• BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
EMPOWERED WOMEN CHANGE THE WORLD
WRITE UP
LEARNING OUTCOME
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INTRODUCTION
Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in
several method, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort
to seek them and raising the status of women through education,
awareness, literacy, equal status in society, better livelihood and training.
Women's empowerment equips and allows women to make lifedetermining
decisions through the different societal problems. They may have the
opportunity to re-define gender roles or other such roles, which allow them
more freedom to pursue desired goals.
Women’s empowerment can also be defined to promoting women’s sense
of self-worth, their ability to determine their own choices, and their right
to influence social change for themselves and others. It is closely aligned
with female empowerment – a fundamental human right that’s also key to
achieving a more peaceful, prosperous world.
Women's empowerment has become a significant topic of discussion in
development and economics. Economic empowerment allows women to
control and benefit from resources, assets, and income. It also aids in the
ability to manage risks and improve women's well-being.
It can result in approaches to support trivialized genders in a
particular political or social context. While often interchangeably used,
the more comprehensive concept of gender empowerment concerns
people of any gender, stressing the distinction between biological and
gender as a role.
Women empowerment helps boost women's status through literacy,
education, training and awareness creation. Furthermore, women's
empowerment refers to women's ability to make strategic life choices that
had previously denied them.
In Western countries, female empowerment is often associated with
specific phases of the women’s rights movement in history. This
movement tends to be split into three waves, the first beginning in the
19th and early 20th century where suffrage was a key feature. The second
wave of the 1960s included the sexual revolution and the role of women in
society. Third wave feminism is often seen as beginning in the 1990s.
Women’s empowerment and promoting women’s rights have emerged as
a part of a major global movement and is continuing to break new ground
in recent years. Days like International Women’s Empowerment Day are
also gaining momentum.
But despite a great deal of progress, women and girls continue to face
discrimination and violence in every part of the world.
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WOMEN EMPOWERMENT -MAKING WORLD A BETTER PLACE.
Women empowerment has become the buzzword today with women
working alongside men in all spheres. They profess an independent
outlook, whether they are living inside their home or working outside.
They are increasingly gaining control over their lives and taking their own
decisions about their education, career, profession and lifestyle.
With steady increase in the number of working women, they have gained
financial independence, which has given them confidence to lead their
own lives and build their own identity. They are successfully taking up
diverse professions to prove that they are second to none in any respect.
But while doing so, women also take care to strike a balance between
their commitment to their profession as well as their home and family.
They are playing multiple roles of a mother, daughter, sister, wife and a
working professional with remarkable harmony and ease. With equal
opportunities to work, they are functioning with a spirit of team work to
render all possible co-operation to their male counterparts in meeting the
deadlines and targets set in their respective professions.
Women empowerment is not limited to urban, working women but women
in even remote towns and villages are now increasingly making their
voices heard loud and clear in society. They are no longer willing to play a
second fiddle to their male counterparts. Educated or not, they are
asserting their social and political rights and making their presence felt,
regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds.
While it is true that women, by and large, do not face discrimination in
society today, unfortunately, many of them face exploitation and
harassment which can be of diverse types: emotional, physical, mental
and sexual. They are often subjected to rape, abuse and other forms of
physical and intellectual violence.
We fight for goals like this if for no other reason than it’s the right thing to
do. Women deserve fundamental human rights, and the Sustainable
Development Goals highlight this human responsibility to treat one
another with respect and honor.”
The UN came out with a set of goals called the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) to help make the world a better place. Of the 17th, the
fourth goal works to allow access to education for all people. A large effort
has been made to include women in schools to better their education. The
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fifth goal focuses on empowering women and girls to achieve gender
equality through equal access to various types of opportunities (health
care, education, work, etc.).
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
POSITION OF WOMEN IN INDIA:
Historical Evidence Proves That the Position of Women in Indian Had Been
Deteriorated
Since Its Inception of Indian History. During Rigvedic Period Women
Enjoyed Equal
Respect Liberty Along with Men in Society. She Is the Member of Public
Offices Like
Sabah and Samity. Since The Inception of The Later Vedic Civilization
Women Were
Denied the Rights to Education and Widow Remarriage, Denied the Rights
of
Inheritance and Ownership of Property. The Emergence of Verna System
Introduced by Manu Led to The Rise of Supremacy of Some Verna Men
Over the Other Members of The Society as Well as Women.
The History of Women's Empowerment in The Ancient Age Is Quite
Confusing Because on One Side It Encouraged Women to Choose Their
Life Partner on Their Own and On the Other Side, They Were Forced to
Perform Sati as Per Social Norms. The First Ever Social Network for Women
Was Created in Ancient Age, And It Was Known as the
"Bhikkhuni Sangh". It Was Created by the "Enlightened Buddha". As Per
Buddha, Women Too Can Achieve Nirvana by The Systematic Practice of
His Teachings (Dhamma). This Was an Unprecedented Step.
Though Women Had Given Respect in Family, Several Restrictions Were
Imposed on
The Rights of Women and Other Members of Society Out of These Varna's.
Some
Verna's Were Excluded from Society They Were Give the Status of Slaves
to The Upper
Verna's. Then These Verna's Fell in The Fold of They Were Supreme Than
the Other Fellow Beings, They Were Given Special Privileges, And Rights,
They Monopolize Certain Profession Which Were Treated as High Position
in The Society.
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Many People Were Denied Getting Education, Education Was the Only
Privilege of Few
Verna's, Women Were Not Allowed to Get Education, Her Duties were
Specially
Mentioned She Begot the Children and Patronized Them, Serve Men and
Fulfill His
Desires, She Was Not Allowed To Come Out Of The House. During Gupta
Period, The Status of Women Immensely Deteriorated. Dowry Becomes an
Institution
As A Result of Their Concrete Efforts, The Status of Women in Social Life,
Economic and Political Life Began to Elevate in The Society.
NEED FOR WOMAN EMPOWERMENT:
In This Contemporary World, Women Need to Gain the Same Amount of
Power That
Men Have. Now, It Is Time to Forget That Men Are the Only Holders of
Power. In India,
Women Are Still Facing Different Obstacles in Male-Dominated Cultures.
The Things
Are Related to Women’s Status and Their Future. However, I Believe That
Indian Women
Are Slowly Getting Empowerment in The Sectors Like Education, Politics,
The Work
Force and Even More Power Within Their Own Households. The Worth of
Civilization
Can Be Arbitrated by The Place Given to Women in The Society. Today,
Women Are Busy
Running in The Presidential Campaign. The Work Force Is Covered with
Intellectual Women Who Currently Hold the CEO Positions At Large
Companies Which Were Never
Held by Indian Women in Long Ago. In Our Country, Women Have Reached
a Long Way
Eventually and Have Discovered a New Path for Them to Come. Women
Rights Are Human Rights. The Concept of Feminism Is Very Vogue.
Feminist Usually Deals Out Balky Attention.
Women’s Right and Changes Effort to Win Equality for Women Have
Containing Women's Suffrage, Feminism, Women's Property Rights, Equal
Opportunity in Work and Education, And Equal Pay. Now, The Future of
Women Is Seeking Out. More, We Have Come Across a More Image of
Gender Differences. Each Year, We Notice That the Headline As “Girls
Outshine Boys” In CBSE, ICSE And State Board Results as Well.
It Arrests Us Showing That Girls Are Now More Confident of Getting
Better-Paid
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Professional Jobs Than Their Flagging Male Counterparts. Clearly, There Is
an Excellent
Amount of Reason for The Girls to Be More Confident Than Boys and This
Is Because Of
Their Remarkable Academic Feat Around the Nation. This Achievement of
Girls Is an Absolute Reversal of What Would Have Been Expected a
Generation Ago. This Is Likely to Steer to Higher-Income Jobs.
The Empowerment Is an Aid to Help Women to Achieve Equality with Men
Or, At Least, To Reduce Gender Gap Considerably. Without Empowerment
Certain Social Roles
Cannot Be Performed. Women Play a Distinct Role in The Economic
Development. She
Is the Chief Architect of Family, The First Teacher; Supplier of Labor Power
and By
Playing Main Role in The Development of Agriculture, Industry, Service
Sector, SocioCulture Etc. Creates A Civilized Society. In The Visible and
Invisible Form Women Contribute for Economic Development.
PRINCIPLES OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
• Create high level corporate leadership for gender equality.
• Treat all people fairly at work, respecting and supporting
nondiscrimination and human rights.
• Ensure the health, wellbeing and safety of all workers, whether male
or female
• Promote education, training and professional development for
women.
• Implement supply chain, marketing practices and enterprises
development that empower women.
• Champion equality through community initiatives and advocacy •
Measure and report publicly on progress to create gender
equality.
STATUS OF WOMEN EMPOWERMEMT
The status of Women Empowerment cannot be visualized with single
dimension rather multidimensional assessment in terms of various
components of women’s life and their status would bring a clear
conception. So, this paper tries to give a basic idea about the condition
and status of women in terms of employment, education, health and
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social status. Before going to elaborate separately let us have a quick
view of the overall status of women in terms of gender gap index prepared
by World Economic Forum in 2012
ROLE OF EDUCATION IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Education plays a vital role in empowering women and girls. It provides
them with the knowledge and skills necessary to gain autonomy, take part
in decision-making processes and contribute to their communities.
However, despite the recognized importance of education, women and
girls continue to face significant challenges and barriers in achieving
equal access to education.
Globally, women and girls face persistent barriers to education. These
barriers can stem from cultural, social and economic factors, and they
often lead to disparities in educational opportunities between girls and
boys. For example, in many developing countries, gender disparities in
education persist due to traditional social norms and practices, such as
early marriages and the burden of household responsibilities. Additionally,
factors such as poverty, conflict and limited access to resources also
contribute to these disparities. As a result, women and girls are denied the
opportunity to reach their full potential and contribute to society on an
equal footing with their male counterparts.
Education has countless benefits for women and girls. Firstly, it allows
women and girls to gain knowledge, develop skills and make informed
decisions. Education empowers women and girls to challenge societal
norms and stereotypes, enabling them to advocate for their rights and
take part in the public sphere. Additionally, education provides women
and girls with opportunities to secure better jobs, earn higher incomes and
support their families financially. Education also allows women and girls to
become agents of change within their communities, promoting gender
equality and social justice.
Despite the recognized benefits of education, women and girls continue to
face significant challenges and barriers in achieving equal access to
education.
Firstly, it is essential to promote gender equality and advocate for the
rights of women and girls. Governments, international organizations and
civil society organizations must work together to create policies and
legislation that promote equal access to education for women and girls.
This includes providing resources, such as educational facilities, textbooks
& scholarships, and ensuring the safety of girls and women in educational
settings.
Secondly, it is essential to involve men and boys in the fight for gender
equality in education. Engaging men and boys as advocates for women
and girls' education can play a crucial role in challenging traditional
gender norms and stereotypes. This can include awareness campaigns,
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educational programs and initiatives that promote gender equality and
gender equality in education.
Furthermore, it is crucial to educate women and girls about their rights,
including their right to education. Educating women and girls about the
importance of education can create a sense of agency and encourage
them to pursue educational opportunities. This can be done through
awareness campaigns, mentoring programs and communitybased
education initiatives.
Finally, it is crucial to address the structural barriers that limit women and
girls' access to education. This includes tackling poverty, providing access
to educational opportunities in remote and rural areas and ensuring the
safety of women and girls in educational institutions. This can be done by
implementing targeted programs, such as cash transfers, education
programs and infrastructure development.
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES OF WOMEN EMPOWERMWENT
There are several constraints that check the process of women
empowerment in India. Social norms and family structure in developing
countries like India, manifests and perpetuate the subordinate status of
women. One of the norms is the continuing preference for a son over the
birth of a girl child which in present in almost all societies and
communities.
The society is more biased in favor of male child in respect of education,
nutrition and other opportunities. The root cause of this type of attitude
lies in the belief that male child inherits the clan in India except for
Meghalaya.
Women often internalize the traditional concept of their role as natural
thus inflicting an injustice upon them. Poverty is the reality of life for the
vast majority women in India. It is another factor that poses challenge in
realizing women’s empowerment. There are several challenges that are
plaguing the issues of women’s right in India. Targeting these issues will
directly help the empowerment of women in India.
EDUCATION: While the country has grown from leaps and bounds since
independence where education is concerned. The gap between women
and men is severe. While 82.14% of adult men are educated, only 65.46%
of adult women are known to be literate in India. The gender bias is in
higher education, specialized professional trainings which hit women very
hard in employment and attaining top leadership in any field.
POVERTY: Poverty is considered the greatest threat to peace in the world,
and eradication of poverty should be a national goal as important as the
eradication of illiteracy. Due to this, women are exploited as domestic
helps.
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HEALTH AND SAFETY: The health and safety concern of women are
paramount for the wellbeing of a country and is an important factor in
gauging the empowerment of women in a country. However, there are
alarming concerns where maternal healthcare is concerned.
MEANS OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
Without developing skills for effective communication, women cannot
make their voices heard. It is essential for them to communicate
effectively to become successful. As leaders, they need to put across their
points to the people so that a family, team or company can be effectively
managed.
POWER OF INTERNET:
Access to the internet has opened the floodgates of knowledge and
awareness and increased social interaction reach and influence of women.
The liberalizing influence of the World Wide Web has broken all taboos,
myths and misconceptions regarding women.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IS URGENT FOR INTEGRATED
DEVELOPMENT
Women empowerment is a must for the betterment of any country’s future
as they play dual responsibilities of managing their families while
simultaneously juggling to earn to contribute to fulfilling the material
needs of their families. No one can ever ignore the importance of the role
of a mother, sister, or a daughter in their families.
At the same time, women have also established themselves as equal
contributors in managing the financial requirements of their homes. On
international level as well, women have successfully created their
unbeatable position, but they are just a handful in comparison to their not
so fortunate counterparts.
REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE IN SPORTS
On various international platforms, women have successfully proved that if
given a chance they can perform no less than their male counterparts and
the recently concluded RIO Olympics bears a testimony to this fact. No
one can ever forget the names of RIO stars – Sakshi Malik, PV Sindhu and
Dipa Karmakar – who became successful in breaking the barriers of gender
to raise India’s national flag high in front of the whole world. There is no
denial to the fact that in a male dominated country like India, it would
have been hard for them to emerge out of the various prevalent taboos to
achieve such positions of eminence.
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IMPORTANCE OF LEGAL RIGHTS
Though Women have been given a special place in every religion, many ill
practices have been going on against women as a norm since ages. But
positive changes are now visible, and the patriarchal system of society has
been gradually eroding. Women are now claiming the socio-political rights
(right to work, right to education, right to decide, etc.) for themselves.
The successive governments have implemented various constitutional and
legal rights to help women lead purposeful and meaningful lives. There is
an increasing awareness about women’s rights which is evident in the
emergence of several NGOs and self-help groups. At the individual level
too, women are now breaking the shackles of suppression and making
their voices heard for their rights.
The Parliament of India too has passed various legislations to save women
from various forms of injustice and discrimination. Following are some of
these laws to empower women: Equal Remuneration Act-1976; Dowry
Prohibition Act-1961; Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act-1956, Medical
termination of Pregnancy Act-1971; Maternity Benefit
Act-1961; Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act-1987; Prohibition of Child
Marriage Act2006; Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques
(Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act-1994; and Sexual Harassment
of Women at Work Place (Prevention, Protection and) Act-2013.
More recently, in the wake of Nirbhaya case involving the rape and brutal
murder of paramedical student in Delhi, the government has passed the
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2015. This Act makes
a significant departure from the earlier Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act, 2000, as the juvenile age inviting punishment
for offence now stands reduced from 18 to 16 years.
GENDER EQUALITY AND ITS IMPACT
Gender equality is a basic human right, and it is also fundamental to
having a peaceful, prosperous world.
Globally, women have fewer opportunities for economic participation than
men, less access to basic and higher education, greater health and safety
risks, and less political representation.
Guaranteeing the rights of women and giving them opportunities to reach
their full potential is critical not only for attaining gender equity, but also
for meeting a wide range of international development goals. Empowered
10
women and girls contribute to the health and productivity of their families,
communities, and countries, creating a ripple effect that benefits
everyone.
Women's empowerment is a critical aspect of achieving gender equity. It
includes increasing a woman's sense of self-worth, her decision-making
power, her access to opportunities and resources, her power and control
over her own life inside and outside the home, and her ability to effect
change. Yet gender issues are not focused on women alone, but on the
relationship between men and women in society. The actions and attitudes
of men and boys play an essential role in achieving gender equity.
In the developing world, girls and women are often seen as less valuable
than boys. Instead of being sent to school, they are often made to do
domestic work at home or are married off for a dowry before they are
adults. As many as 12 million underage girls are married every year.
While some progress is being made in various parts of the world, there is
still a great deal left to be done to right the problems of gender inequality.
REAL STORIES OF WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT
TABITHA: Baking to give back.
Smells of fresh bread – voices of ladies talking - a faint glow flickers
through the windows. The day’s baking has begun here at the Thusanang
Mokhali Bakery in Lesotho.
Tabitha is one of the bakery’s two senior group members. A local pastor,
she had seen the challenges that faced people in her community, and she
was particularly concerned by the limited opportunities for young people.
She began to ask herself how she could help her community – and
eventually, the bakery was born. Alongside another grandmother named
Mahlakametsa, Tabitha began baking bread to create employment
opportunities. This also meant they were able to expand and attract new
team members.
With the help of World Vision, the duo was given a baking oven and other
critical equipment. This meant they were able to move from the inefficient
process of baking in the earth-dug fire pit, and instead could. bake
indoors.
This also meant they were able to expand and attract new team members.
For women like Tabitha, having a livelihood like this is a path to hope. In
many parts of the world, women aren’t equipped with the skills,
knowledge and access to funding that allows them to start working and
take control of their futures.
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Tabitha now can use the skills she already has and, together with the
support of World Vision, she can make a living that gives bread and jobs to
her community.
“I remembered that I knew how to knead and to cook bread because I
used to work at a bakery. Now I understood that with the people here we
can do that,” she says.
DIGITAL THINGS ENHANCE POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT.
Digital skills can ease women's engagement with local government and
increase their decision-making power in their communities. The Women-
gov project in Brazil and India, for instance, has helped women improve
their understanding of and communication with local government.
In Brazil, the project trained female community leaders to access and
utilize online data on government health services to better respond to
public health concerns in their communities.
In India, the project collaborated with women's collectives to set up
women-run, internet-connected community information centers to
facilitate applications for government assistance (including welfare and
entitlements), which in turn improved linkages between the collectives,
local authorities and public institutions.
Women with digital skills are better able to make their voices heard on
local issues and influence the outcome of decisions that affect themselves
and their communities. Digital skills can also empower women to take part
in political movements.
For instance, the anonymity of ICTs may allow some women to avoid
limitations on freedom of speech in repressive societies, while
collective mobilization through online networks can enable women to
campaign on gender-based issues.
According to FAO, there are seven success factors to empowering rural
women through ICTs:
1. Adapt content so that it is meaningful for them.
2. Create a safe environment for them to share and learn.
3. Be gender sensitive.
4. Provide them with access and tools for sharing.
5. Build partnerships.
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6. Provide the right blend of technologies.
7. Ensure sustainability.
Studies show an Iraqi women's group used a multimedia campaign,
including an online component, to successfully lobby the Kurdish regional
government to outlaw the practice of female genital mutilation. Images
taken on mobile phones and distributed via social media have called
attention to domestic violence in China and influenced media treatment of
court cases on forced abortion.
The regulatory role of governments (at local, national, regional, and
international levels) is crucial in addressing infrastructural barriers,
harmonizing and making the regulatory environment inclusive and
gender-responsive, and in protecting all stakeholders from fraud and
crime.
FEMINIST APPROACHES
Feminism is defined by the movement's goal of creating women's
empowerment. Two methods feminists use to facilitate a sense of women
empowerment are consciousness-raising and building relationships with
the women participants and their external oppressors.
RAISING CONCIOUSNESS:
To create women empowerment, feminists randomly use consciousness
raising. When raising consciousness, women not only become
knowledgeable about their personal struggles but how it is related to
political and economic issues. Raising consciousness allows marginalized
individuals to see where they are placed in the larger social structure and
pinpoint the root of their oppression. Awareness of their problems will
initiate self-mobilization which precisely creates empowerment.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIP:
In addition, feminists, specifically feminist organizers, focus on building
relationships as a medium for creating women empowerment. Scholars
claim that building relationships results in empowerment because the
increasing presence of power gaps in society are due to the lack of
relationships that are needed to bridge them.
When it comes to forming and maintaining relationships, there needs to
be a balance of both collaboration and conflict between the two parties.
Conflict commonly arises in situations where community members
attempt to build relationships with external power figures like government
representatives.
Fostering a space for collaboration as well as deliberation of conflicting
ideas is important because sorting out disagreements allows for the
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formation of trust between the parties. In addition, conflict individually
benefits the women participants because it fosters problem-solving skills
and opens them to a new pool of knowledge and perspectives on society.
Scholars observe that building relationships has a depoliticizing tendency
as the activity does not directly challenge the oppressive structures
affecting women. A specific observation of this depoliticizing tendency is
story telling. When building relationships, feminists encourage women
participants to share their personal experiences involving gender
oppression, rather than deliberate about strategies to approach the
oppressive system.
EMPOWERED WOMEN CHANGE THE WORLD
EMPOWERED WOMEN: THE SECRET WEAPON
‘’promoting gender equality is not only women’s responsibility – it’s the
responsibility of all of us. “Former UN Secretary Kofi Annan
And so it appears that the Sustainable Development Goals are onto
something. Not only because women are people and deserve equal rights
for that simple fact alone, but also because investing in and empowering
women unlocks a flood of potential for the whole world. Women are a
secret weapon in the fight against global poverty. They are an often-
untapped resource that has the potential to improve livelihoods, economic
outputs, productivity, and human life itself.
As former UN Secretary Kofi Annan famously said, “Promoting gender
equality is not only women’s responsibility – it’s the responsibility of all of
us.
No wonder we are all so excited about empowering women: they are one
of the most powerful tools we have.
FEEDING THE FUTURE : ENDING THE GLOBAL HUNGER
The majority of those struggling with hunger live in rural regions where
they depend upon agriculture to survive. Because of the critical role
hunger and nutrition play in both the lives and livelihoods of those living
in poverty, it is no surprise that Sustainable Development Goal 2
addresses this critical topic: “End hunger, achieve food security and
improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture."
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OPPORTUNITY’S RESPONSE
This understanding of the value of investing in women and girls has
shaped
Opportunity’s own strategies, tools and programs. Because we know that
empowered women are key to ending extreme poverty, Opportunity is
focused on providing tools and training that equip and empower women to
thrive.
We make it possible for more girls to go to—and stay in—school through
our Education Finance initiatives.
We provide equal access to farming inputs and agricultural tools
through our Agriculture Finance program.
We connect women who have been excluded from the formal economy to
savings accounts and small loans through Trust Groups, which provide
them with a network of support to earn a stable income and improve their
livelihoods.
We leverage and increase access to technology so that even the most
rural women can be a part of the global economy
We promote women’s health through education and partnerships with
community health organizations, helping women and their babies live
healthy, fulfilling lives.
Ultimately, we include women whose lives have been defined by
exclusion. We provide access to the formal economy, to much needed
tools and training and to financial services and education. And in so doing,
we connect women to the world around them, giving them opportunities
that were previously unimaginable. Because we know that women, when
empowered, will change the world.
THE RIPPLE EFFECT CHANGES THE WORLD
Earlier this year, Bill and Melinda Gates wrote a letter to Warren Buffett
highlighting some of the major insights they have discovered over their
years investing in the developing world and building the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation. In it, they wrote, “All lives have equal value is not just a
principle; it’s a strategy. You can create all kinds of new tools, but if you’re
not moving toward equality, you’re not really changing the world. You’re
just rearranging it. When women have the same opportunities as men,
families and societies thrive. Obviously, gender equity unleashes women’s
potential, but it also unleashes men’s potential.”
And this is the true secret of investing in women.
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EVERY INVESTMENT THAT EMPOWERS A WOMAN SPARKS A RIPPLE EFFECT
THAT INFLUENCES NOT ONLY HER LIFE, BUT THE LIVES OF HER FAMILY AND
COMMUNITY, TOO.
As Sheryl Wu Dunn writes in Half the Sky, “When you educate a girl, there
is a ripple effect that goes beyond what you would get from a normal
investment…When you educate a girl, you educate a village.”
Statistically, women reinvest much more of their incomes into their
families to directly benefit their children.28 Because they more commonly
hold roles within the household, women are often responsible for funding
their children’s educations, preparing healthy food, and accessing medical
care for their kids. Women are driving and equipping the next generation
—the generation that might break free from extreme poverty.
Through my own work with Opportunity International, I have had the honor
of interviewing hundreds of women in various corners of the world—from
villages in Latin America to slums in Asia to rural communities in Africa.
And without fail, every woman, regardless of geography or circumstance,
will answer one question the same way.
When I ask what their dream for their future is, every woman will say: “I
want my kids to go to school.”
Universally, family is the top priority—and women are working to ensure
their families’ futures.
This intrinsic—and measured—drive to pay it forward is the hidden value
of investing in women. Its why organizations get so excited about policies
and initiatives targeting women. Because they know that when you
empower a woman, you empower a family. You unlock a wave of potential
that will have a multiplying, generational legacy.
THE IMPACT IS SIGNIFICANT
” When girls stay in school, they live longer, healthier lives, marry later,
have fewer children, and drastically increase their future incomes. If all
girls had a secondary school education, there would be two-thirds fewer
teenage pregnancies, and women would have fewer children overall.”
Considering the litany of challenges women continue to face around the
world, it’s no surprise that so many organizations and policies have
attempted to address the needs of women and girls. What is perhaps
more surprising is the larger-scale impact that these initiatives have.
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Programs addressing women’s education and economic empowerment are
not only beneficial from a human rights perspective, but they are
transformative economically as well. Statistically, as of 2011, every
additional year of primary school boosted girls’ future wages by 10-20
percent, and each extra year of secondary school increased earnings by
15-25 percent.
When girls stay in school, they live longer, healthier lives, marry later,
have fewer children, and drastically increase their future incomes. If all
girls had a secondary school education, there would be two-thirds fewer
teenage pregnancies, and women would have fewer children overall. The
frequency of child deaths would decrease by nearly 50 percent. If a girl in
the developing world gets seven or more years of education, she marries
four years later and has 2.2 fewer children than her uneducated sisters.
WRITE UP
Women Empowerment is not just about giving women more opportunities
but transforming society to be fairer and more equitable towards them.
Empowered women improve their families, boost the economy, and bring
about positive social change. We can create a world where men and
women have equal opportunity to realize their full potential by eliminating
gender barriers and promoting gender equality. Therefore, empowering
women is crucial to creating a prosperous and sustainable future for
everybody.
Women empowerment, in the truest sense, will be achieved only when
there is attitudinal change in society regarding womenfolk, treating them
with proper respect, dignity, fairness and equality. The rural areas of the
country are, by and large, steeped in a feudal and medieval outlook,
refusing to grant women equal say in the matters of their education,
marriage, dress-code, profession and social interactions.
Women Empowerment helps to make the society and world a better place
to live in and march forward on way to inclusive participation. It means
increase happiness for the family and the organizations where women
make a difference.
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With the shift to market-oriented growth strategies and cutbacks in the
public sector, women lost out in one of the few sources of decent
employment available to them with no offsetting expansion of job
opportunities in the private sector.
The role of the state should not merely be to provide support for the
private sector. While the state needs to allow markets to function without
unnecessary interference, it also needs to ensure the provision of public
goods to enhance the productive capacity of the economy.
As with growth strategies more generally, there is no one size-fits-all
policy package that will succeed in equalizing access to employment
opportunities for women and men across different contexts. What is
needed is attention to the combination of constraints in specific contexts
that block women’s ability to benefit from emerging opportunities.
The organizational capacity of working women, both waged and self-
employed, may be the missing ingredient that can help to transform their
access to paid work into an economic pathway to empowerment and
citizenship. Many organize around sectorspecific issues, and it is
frequently to the state that they make their demands—a strategy that
enhances their identity not only as workers but also as citizens
If we want to bring about women empowerment in the true sense, there is
a crying need for the elimination of the male superiority and patriarchal
mindset. Also, women need to be given equal opportunities for education
and employment without any sense of discrimination. Unless there is
attitudinal change in society towards women, merely arming them with
legal and constitutional rights will be simply inadequate.
LEARNING OUTCOME
Women empowerment is the process of enabling women to take control of
their lives, set goals, and achieve their dreams. It involves the promotion
of equal rights, opportunities, and access to resources for women in all
aspects of society.
Women empowerment is about giving women equal chances in life. It
means helping women get good education, jobs, and a say in important
decisions. When women are empowered, they can achieve their goals and
make the world better. It’s important for everyone including families,
schools, and governments, to support women’s rights and opportunities.
By doing this, we create a fairer society where both men and women can
succeed. In the end, empowering women benefits not just women, but
everyone in society.
Women empowerment is a crucial catalyst for societal progress and
economic growth. It encompasses dismantling systemic barriers,
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challenging gender stereotypes, and creating equitable opportunities
across all spheres like educational, professional, and political.
• Improved empowerment of women and girls, including women/girls
with disabilities from disadvantaged communities, asserting their
equality of rights and dealing with dominant social norms that
perpetuate gender inequality and gender-based violence.
• Improved and equitable attainment of lower secondary education
among women and girls, including women and girls with disabilities
from disadvantaged communities.
• Enhanced livelihood opportunities with sustainable climate resilient
practices and improved incomes among women and girls, including
women/girls with disabilities from disadvantaged communities.
By fostering women’s autonomy and leadership, we unlock a vast
reservoir of untapped potential that can drive innovation and sustainable
development. However, true empowerment requires more than just policy
changes, it necessitates a fundamental shift in societal attitudes and
norms.
As we advance, it’s imperative to recognize that women’s rights are
human rights, and their empowerment is intrinsically linked to global
prosperity and social justice. Ultimately, a world that empowers women is
one that thrives collectively, benefiting all genders and future
generations.
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