What interventions are the most successful in improving women’s economic power in the developing world? This paper highlights lessons learned from three years of grant-making to organisations seeking to improve economic opportunity for women. It argues that the most effective interventions for women’s economic empowerment take a holistic approach that includes promoting women’s rights.
Tangible income for women confers respect and decision-making power in the home, and enables many women to challenge social and cultural barriers in the public arena. The Global Fund has supported three development strategies that focus on improving economic opportunity for women: income generation, skills training (to prepare women for the labour market or entrepreneurship) and labour rights advocacy (organising efforts to protect workers from exploitation and/or increase their influence on economic policies).
Access to credit and skills training alone are insufficient. Once employed, women continue to face discrimination, unequal pay for equal or comparable work, sexual harassment and unsafe working conditions. Thus, the realisation of women’s human rights must also be promoted. The most effective interventions were found to be:
- Providing women with access to information on their rights and building self-esteem
- Creating access to credit and skills training and promoting economic literacy
- Linking women with local providers of technical assistance and business expertise to ensure the sustainability of economic ventures
- Educating men about the value of improving the status of women and girls in the family and society
- Supporting women’s policy advocacy and promotion of their labour rights
- Supporting related programmes in the areas of: property and inheritance rights; domestic violence prevention and treatment; childcare and girls’ education; family planning and maternal health care; disaster prevention; and community/business/government awareness of women’s rights.
Varying regional patterns of economic activity and women’s organising emerge. Lessons learned in the different regions include the following:
- In Africa, 70 per cent of women lack land inheritance rights and consequently are unable to access formal loans due to the lack of collateral. Microcredit schemes can therefore dramatically increase women’s (and families’) opportunities.
- In the Americas, labour groups are working to support women’s labour rights in Mexico’s border factories. Grants to support labour rights have seen increased political participation by women workers, enhancing their ability to lobby local governments to address their concerns.
- In Asia, women’s groups have also focused on labour rights. Young women migrate due to economic necessity, but often become trapped in the sex trade or domestic servitude. Interventions encompass health, literacy, leadership training and other areas, aiming to increase the overall wellbeing of women.
- Many organisations in Europe and the former Soviet Union incorporate economic empowerment in broader programmes. They do not separate access to employment, vocational skills training, or other aspects of economic opportunity from their primary mission to improve the status of women in their communities.
Recommendations in relation to income generation, skills training and labour rights advocacy include ensuring that:
- Groups have access to local technical assistance and business expertise
- Groups share institutional knowledge about the most effective strategies to achieve gender equality along with economic opportunity
- Skills training is part of wider support system, including referrals to microcredit or business loans
- Men are educated about the value of improving the status of women and girls
- Funds are directed to programmes which ensure alternative employment opportunities and fair labour practices where foreign investment has dried up.
