Empowering+Women

**Now I've been given a loan from Grameen bank, even the chairman and the members of the local council know me and respect me** Roshinara Begum from BBC News-Telephone Ladies Connect Bangladesh (bbc.com)

**Problem:** Women have always had fewer rights than men, but as globalization progresses western cultures are coming closer (although there is still room for progress) to equality. Unfortunately, in the developing world the gender differentials are still great. One of the UN's eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to empower women and put an end to the stereotypes that women belong solely in the home with a man to protect them. The key issues we must address to bring about change are:
 * Reproductive health: Women are more vulnerable than men to reproductive health problems. Reproductive health problems, including maternal mortality and morbidity, represent a major – but preventable -- cause of death and disability for women in developing countries. Failure to provide information, services and conditions to help women protect their reproduction health therefore constitutes gender-based discrimination and a violation of women’s rights to health and life
 * __Stewardship of natural resources:__ Women in developing nations are usually in charge of securing water, food and fuel and of overseeing family health and diet. Therefore, they tend to put into immediate practice whatever they learn about nutrition and preserving the environment and natural resources.
 * Economic empowerment: Economic disparities persist partly because much of the unpaid work within families and communities falls on the shoulders of women and because they face discrimination in the economic sphere.
 * Educational empowerment: About two thirds of the illiterate adults in the world are female. Higher levels of women's education are strongly associated with both lower infant mortality and lower fertility.
 * Political empowerment: Social and legal institutions still do not guarantee women equality in basic legal and human rights, in access to or control of land or other resources, in employment and earning, and social and political participation.
 * Empowerment throughout the life cycle: Reproductive health is a lifetime concern for both women and men, from infancy to old age.

(Salon News-Salon.com) Women have more rights in the western world, and have an easier time moving into the business sector (see above) but are still undervalued and given less privileges than men. To change this, the YWCA has compiled a list of things women should do to ensure they are viewed as the equals of men:
 * Course of Action for the Developed World:**
 * 1) Value yourself and relationships where you are an equal. You should also feel that, overall, your value in the partnership is equal to that of your partner's.
 * 2) Learn how to own your voice and assert your opinions.
 * 3) Identify words and language that communicate gender bias: Two places to look for gender bias include position titles that infer gender and school/employer policies that infer gender.
 * 4) Speak up about sexist jokes or sexist images: Promote sexual harassment policies in your workplace.
 * 5) Focus on the person instead appearance: Compliment yourself or other woman for achievements, thoughts, and actions.
 * 6) Call attention to media deception: Expose and understand unrealistic media images for what they are: retouched, computer-manipulated photos of models-a group that makes up only a tiny subset of the population.
 * 7) Learn how to ask and negotiate for wages and raises: Keep a job diary. Every week, or even every day, write down what you did and how it helped meet the company's objectives. Keep lists or spreadsheets, because managers like to count things.
 * 8) Think about, plan and prepare for career advancement: Find a seminar to help you understand your industry and opportunities.
 * 9) Encourage risk taking: People develop self-reliance when they're given the space to solve problems and make mistakes in the process.
 * 10) Know and be able to manage your finances: Women statistically live about six years longer than men, and run a higher risk of living in poverty as they get older.

If women work to end degrading behavior and continue to carry themselves professionally, in the coming years sexism will decrease and they will be seen to have the same worth as men.

The YWCA plan is also applicable to the developing world, however many women are not able to create their own finances or enter the professional sector because of cultural and social barriers (see women’s rights survey below). (Gallup Poll-gallup.com) Although the majority of women believe they should be equal, many still believe they are inferior and accept discrimination. Between 25% and 50% of men in those countries also view women as inferior, a view that makes the empowerment of women impossible. Encouragement of and work on the following programs will help women in the developing and under developed world to create their initial financial independence.
 * Course of Action for the Developing and Under-Developed World:**
 * Legal Equality:** Governments must recognize women as citizens with equal rights of men and laws dealing with women as property of husbands and fathers must be eliminated.
 * Skills training for women who have been marginalized by childbirth injuries**: Women who are no longer able to undergo manual labor because of injuries brought on by childbirth (especially complications due to inadequate medical care) lose their entire ability to earn money. Additionally women with many children have trouble finding time to leave home and commit manual labor such as agricultural or factory work, leaving them with no possible income. For these women to be given a chance to earn funds, governments or NGOs need to provide additional skills training to open doors to new jobs.
 * Reproductive health education:** In the developing world, childbirth can often be fatal, and most women have multiple dangerous pregnancies because of a lack of education about contraception. In addition to complications in birth, issues with sexually transmitted diseases often develop due to lack of health care and once again education. For women to gain power they must understand and be protected from the risks of childbirth and sex (including AIDS). This education will only be possible if religious communities approve the education of their women about issues of sex and if governments agree to be honest about reproductive health issues and AIDS and provide universal education, especially to impoverished and rural areas. Contraception use will also increase the ability for women to gain rights as they will not be responsible for so many children and will have time to leave the house and create their own lives. (See graph below for statistics)




 * Microcredit:** The final and most important way to empower women in impoverished and developing countries is to establish a broad microcredit system modeled after Grameen Bank's programs to create an economy open to women who work independently. The Grameen Bank system is doubly beneficial because its Sixteen Decisions encourage a culture of mutual respect and accountability that prioritizes equality and community effort (with the community including females). 97% of Grameen Bank's customers are women, and it projects that 50% of its members have risen out of extreme poverty by using the microcredit system. That stepping stone could be the crucial point for women because with an escape from poverty comes better education and working potential. The image at the top of the page is an example of what microcredit can do for women. Roshinara Begum lived in acute poverty until she was able to take out a loan to buy a telephone that she created as a business providing communication to her entire village. Grameen Bank has created thousands of "telephone ladies" creating a profitable profession available solely for women (see image below). Increased microcredit modeled after the Grameen Bank system will have the strongest effect on empowering women in the developing world and will be the pathway out of the home and into the business world for them.

Grameen Bank Telephone Ladies spread telephone communication to villages while also developing an all female industry in Bangladesh. (columbia.edu) YWCA 10 Simple Ideas to Empower Women http://www.ywca.org/site/pp.asp?c=djISI6PIKpG&b=295667
 * Sources:**

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) http://www.unfpa.org/gender/empowerment.htm

Women's Economic Empowerment: Meeting the Needs of Impoverished Women

Interview with Muhammed Yunus-Founder of Grameen Microcredit Bank

Wikipedia Overview of the Grameen Bank http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grameen_Bank Links to other MDGs Eradicating Hunger Achieving Universal Education Empowering Women Poverty and Health Insuring Environmental Sustainability Developing a Global Partnership for Development Basic Costs Demographics