Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction

Women make up more than 50 percent of the world’s population but own only one percent of the world’s wealth. Even according to the World Bank’s latest World Development Report on Gender Equality and Development, while gender equality is a core development objective in its own right, the report also notes that it is smart economics. Greater gender equality improves overall productivity, improves the well-being of children, makes institutions more representative and responsive, andimproves development prospects for all.

The report continues to note that for every woman who dies in childbirth in Sweden, 1000 women die in Afghanistan, 815 in Somalia, 495 in Nigeria, and 122 in Pakistan. The worst disparity is the rate at which girls and women die relative to men in developing countries. Excess female deaths account for an estimated 3.9 million women each year in low- and middle-income countries. About two-fifths are never born due to a preference for sons, a sixth die in early childhood, and over a third die in their reproductive years. We will make the world a fairer, saner, happier and healthier planet for all of its inhabitants by educating girls, empowering women and reclaiming & restoring the feminine principle to its rightful place on the planet.