Spotlight
New
Delhi, 30 December 2016
Investing
In Women
WAY TO A
BETTER WORLD
By Moin
Qazi
All lives —
no matter where they are being led — have equal value: Our Values, Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation
We know we cannot alter the value of
a human life -- but this belief doesn’t square with our actions. We live in a
world in which women live mired in poverty, face gross inequalities and
injustice from birth to death. From poor education to poor nutrition to
vulnerable and low pay employment, the sequence of discrimination is very hard,
but all too common. The oppression of women stands as a stark reminder
of how difficult it is to realise people’s full human potential.
The world over, women provide 33 per
cent of the work force, 70 per cent of the agricultural workers, 90 per cent of
household water and fuel wood, 80 per cent of food storage, 90 per cent of the
hoeing and weeding work and 60 per cent of the harvesting and marketing
activities. By opening up opportunities for women such as access to information
and finance, networking and mentoring opportunities, and providing support and
training to businesses, women can increase their economic participation,
financial independence, and reduce poverty.
The challenge is to reach poor women
who are landless labourers, smallholder agricultural producers, cross-border
traders and factory and domestic workers and ensure that these women have
access to the opportunities and benefits of economic growth and trade. There
are specific challenges when working with the poorest women such as: Lower
levels of literacy; lower levels of participation in decision making both in
the household and the community; lower levels of access to and control over
resources; lower levels of access to networks and people who can assist and
support, and greater vulnerability to sexual exploitation and abuse at the
community level, if not the household level.
Such constraints require donors to
take account of the specific needs of the poorest women in the design of
programmes, including investments in infrastructure, such as roads and
telecommunications.
Over the years several strategies have been used to empower women. One of
these relies on community groups whose members can be trained and equipped to
use their collective strength and wisdom to tackle their problems. Social capital has become a ubiquitous part of
community-based development theory over the last decade, especially at the
World Bank. The idea presumes that the key to poverty alleviation lies in the
capacity of a community to develop collectively beneficial activities and
institutions. In too many places and too many ways, women are taking charge of
themselves after grappling with the levers being provided to them.
In India, community groups set up in
villages and slums to tackle specific problems are known as self-help groups.
It needs great emotional intensity to break through age old barriers. This can
possible only through groups who share the same emotional values and are driven
by strong impulses of mutual goals. One of the primary objectives is of course
to avail loans which the women access by cross guaranteeing each other’s
liability. The women have the drive, ambition, and business acumen to create
streams of income for themselves, but they often need a lump sum to get
started.
When we
place capital in the hands of women, especially low-income women, who don’t
have access to loans through traditional means
it works wonders – unlocking her entrepreneurial impulses. They gain the courage
and skills to break the cycle of inter-generational poverty. We create the most powerful catalyst for lasting social change. With help for starting businesses, impoverished women
can earn money and support their countries as well as their families. They are
now perhaps the best hope for fighting global poverty.
As
the development community works to achieve the sustainable development goals,
we must remember that rural women are central figures in the fight to end
global hunger. Investing in women is the way to a better world. According to a Harvard
Business Review study, women in emerging markets reinvest 90% of every dollar earned
into “human resources”— their families’ education, health and nutrition —
compared to only 30 to 40% of every dollar earned by men. What is just coming into focus is
that women represent an underutilised resource in alleviating that poverty.
The real benefits, the women say,
cannot be measured in rupees—a lesson for anyone who believes that the poor are
motivated simply by material needs and not the desire for respect, community
and recognition. A vital part of the entire programme is the fellowship they
share with their sisters. The groups have become astringents for soaking up the
pain of their individual members.
These women inspire
us, and they serve as good examples of how millions of brave and industrious
people are working their way up the economic ladder, with dignity and pride.
Being economically empowered, being able to stand up for themselves inside
their families, is giving women a sense of autonomy and authority.
We should not discount completely
the merit of providing certain goods and services to the people at the bottom
of the economic pyramid, but the fact remains that poor people are not at the
bottom of the knowledge, ethical, or innovation pyramids. Unless we build on
the resources in which poor people are rich, the development process will not
be dignified and a mutually respectful and learning culture will not be
reinforced in society. We must remember that inclusive development cannot be
imagined without incorporating diversified, decentralised, and distributed
sources of solutions developed by local people, on their own, without outside
help.
For all interventions, the
fundamental logic is plain: if we are going to end extreme poverty, we need to
start with girls and women. The heroic stories of tenacious women scripting
tales of economic success are great signs of a brighter tomorrow. For a world
where people live on less than dollar a day this is an important step.
The journey of a thousand miles
starts with a step. Truly, there is change in the air. Though not dramatic, not
a headline grabber, it is a slow and quiet transformation that is underway in
remote and far-flung villages. --- INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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