Women's economic empowerment

In the present context of women’s socio-economic empowerment, Bangladesh has played a revolutionary role in microcredit movement and has proved that the poor women are creditworthy and they can even do better in repaying the debt. This movement is no longer limited to only microcredit program; rather it includes more service-oriented in the frame of microfinance operation. Microcredit institutions in Bangladesh have dramatically increased the credit available to poor rural women since the mid-1980s. Moreover, Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) have become a dominant financial institution for the poor section of people, especially women who cannot access formal financial institutions in a large extent. Though poor women have access to microfinance, later it has been explored that due to various kind of patriarchal norms and other socio-economical constraints, women in most cases lose the control on proper utilization of debt. Even though, sometimes women’s decision-making power and the expansion of enterprise became shrink due to lack of control over the loan utilization process. This paper mainly focuses on how microfinance intervention in Bangladesh played a decisive role in women’s economic empowerment and to what extent government policy initiatives and institutional building approach assist in flourishing microfinance discourse more friendly for the most vulnerable poor women. Moreover, this paper also evaluates the most prominent two selected institutions named BRAC and Grameen Bank’s microfinance operation from a critical viewpoint and assess to what are the existing ambiguity in the arena of microfinance operation at the field level.

Badakhshan is an extremely remote province where women and men utilize limited income generating resources. Women contribute significant amounts of time to agriculture and livestock production. In Northeast Afghanistan, such as in Badakhshan, women’s contribution to agricultural activities, in terms of time allocation, equals to that of men (World Bank, 2009).

A survey of women’s contribution to agricultural activities conducted by FAO in Badakhshan, Bamyan and Kabul observed that women performed as much agricultural work as men. However, they are concentrated in labour intensive activities such as: weeding, removing stones from the land, harvesting, gathering the crops into bundles, threshing, and cleaning the seed. Women are also the main care providers for livestock and carry out all activities from breeding, to milking to making dairy produce, spinning wool, raising small animals and selling them.

Afghanaid works alongside the women-led fruit and vegetable value chain to enhance their opportunities and capabilities to achieve sustainable and equitable economic and social development. Economic empowerment is identified by women in proposed project areas as the most powerful route for them to achieve their potential and advance their rights. The project facilitates women beneficiaries to access financial and physical capital (e.g. agriculture inputs, improved farming technology, etc.), build their human capital through skills training, transfer technology, and enable women to build their social capital through the formation of cooperatives, associations, and networks.

Since Esther Boserup’s seminal book Women’s Role in Economic Development (1970), making women active economic actors has been a priority in the development field (Moser 1993, Kabeer 1994). Under the different logics that economic independence for women improves gender equality, addresses poverty, and increases the efficiency of whole economies, innumerable microfinance programmes have been implemented to serve female clients only (Moser 1993:56-79, Armendáriz and Morduch 2010:212-213).
With the shift from a Women in Development (WID) to a Gender and Development (GAD) paradigm during the 1990s and the rising recognition that the relationship between economic wellbeing and gender equality is neither linear nor causal (Mayoux 1999, Duflo 2005), attention was moved to redress unequal power relations between the sexes in society (Moser 1993:3,74). Despite this re-orientation, most microfinance programmes continued to finance only women and to dismiss men, ignoring couple dynamics (Kabeer 2000, Armendáriz and Roome 2008). Multiple studies have already shown this to be problematic by pointing to negative effects both for women’s ‘empowerment’ and gender equality overall (Mayoux 1999, 2001, Kabeer 2000, Leach and Sitaram 2002, Armendáriz and Morduch 2010:212), and many programmes have made an explicit move to a gender-sensitive approach (Esplen and Brody 2007, Barker and Schulte 2010).
Due to the important limitations of gender-specific development approaches that the microfinance field has made evident, but also the prominence of microfinance as an approach to women’s empowerment historically (and today), I select one such programme to unpack the ‘gender’ question for ‘development.’ The programme I discuss was designed for women, but it later extended loans to men. Tracing the transition from a gender-specific to a gender-sensitive approach validates many of the points raised in the critical literature, and makes evident the influence of man-woman power dynamics on the prospects of women’s empowerment. It also shows that employing a gender lens can help planners to perceive such complex interdependencies, and to redirect development objectives toward gender equal development that increases the likelihood of ‘good’ change for both men and women.
I start this paper by offering some working definitions. A following section provides the reader with an overview of women-only microfinance, the justification behind it, and some of its criticisms. Immediately after, I present the case-study, offering some final remarks in a concluding section.

ABSTRACT

The Council of Technical Vocational Education and Training held a brainstorming session with representatives from Ghana’s various TVET authorities. During this session the moderator sought input for developing a gender strategy for Ghana’s girls and women. The session focused on four (4) guiding questions:
 1) What are the existing polices/strategies in women’s skills development in Ghana? 
    2) What are the key elements to consider in developing a gender strategy? 
    3) Who are the key persons and institutions who should be involved?  4) What are the steps we should take to develop a gender strategy?

This paper is Global Learning Centers’ input into the dialogue on issues and strategies for skills training for Ghana’s women in TVET.  Global Learning Centers seeks to empower women through training in the lucrative non-traditional employment roles. We have established a technical school for women to implement the research based strategies to give women power over their own lives thus enriching their families and communities. The focuses of the recommendations are generated in that light.

The vast majority of the world’s poor are women. Two-thirds of the world’s illiterates are female and of the millions of school age children not in school, the majority are girls. Studies show that when women are supported and empowered, all of society benefits. Their families are healthier, more children go to school, agricultural productivity improves and income increases. In short, communities become more resilient. With tourism being one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world, it is essential that linkages between tourism business and the poor are made. Such linkages have the capacity to contribute to poverty reduction and enable poor people, particularly women, to participate effectively in productive development. This paper gives some examples of how women might contribute to the growth of tourism in the Great Lakes Region.

With the assistance of donors, the Government of Afghanistan has started to enact a wide-range of policy actions aiming to provide Afghan women with equal access to resources and opportunities for participation in the country’s economy. However, the implementation of these women-centred policies remains weak and leaves women to fight alone against daily challenges due to the lack of their equal acceptance in society. The paper aims to shed light on some of the many issues that can only be addressed if peace is achieved. Overall, the paper is focused on Afghan women employability and entrepreneurship opportunities for engagement in economic development. Authors argue that in the context of Afghanistan, women’s economic empowerment requires better policymaking, which can in turn improve the level of policy implementation in different parts of the country. The paper highlights the need for rethinking government economic policies with an emphasis on the essential components of women’s economic empowerment such as security and innovative opportunities for women’s participation in national and local economic development.

Maasai WoMen DevelopMent organisation (MWeDo), tanzania 2 About this research This case study was developed as part of a research initiative undertaken by the University of Oxford to develop measurements for evaluating the impact of Walmart's Empowering Women Together (EWT) program.

This paper summarises the findings of mixed-methods research that was carried out in Rwanda as part of the ‘Balancing Unpaid Care Work and Paid Work: Successes, Challenges and Lessons for Women’s Economic Empowerment Programmes and Policies’ research project (2015–17). It reflects the voices and experiences of women and their household members participating in women’s economic empowerment (WEE) programmes across four sites in the rural districts of Musanze and Huye. Participants in two WEE programmes are represented, namely the state-run Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP), and ActionAid Rwanda’s Food Security and Economic Empowerment Programme. The question addressed by the research was: How can women’s economic empowerment (WEE) policies and programmes take unpaid care work into account in order to enable women’s economic empowerment to be optimised, shared across families and sustained across generations? This study and its findings indicate that women are the primary caregivers in families, although older children in particular and spouses to some extent also engage in some care tasks. There is little help with care from outside the nuclear family. Women’s paid work opportunities are more limited than men’s because of gender norms around certain types of work and because they have less time to find out about paid work opportunities due to their involvement in care work. Women may do more than one job, and much paid work is temporary, occasional and irregular, as well as seasonal. Women’s income from paid work is important; but, whether sole earnings or combined, it is not always enough to meet household needs. Balancing paid and unpaid work is a daunting task for the majority of women. Both care and paid work are often physically challenging and time consuming. Women have little time for leisure and personal use. Women who are the sole adult earners and carers for their families are struggling the most. Women who are relatively better off tend to live in families which have other adults also contributing to providing income and care.

Improving the economic status of women around the world has positive effects on social, economic, and political development. One inequality that women in the MENA have and continue to face is economic inequality, manifested mainly through various barriers from participating in the formal labor force and discrimination at work and public spaces. Women's empowerment is a frequently cited goal of most countries' development policies and key to addressing gender inequalities. The field research sought to contextualize women's empowerment in the handicrafts sector in Oman by soliciting the participants' reactions on factors that are often used to measure empowerment through work. The paper assesses potential pathways that position employment, and the development of entrepreneurial know-how, within an empowerment approach. Using a qualitative approach, it identifies several constraints to women's work and provides a micro-level perspective of Oman's handicrafts sector.

Analyses the reasons why there is a growing number of Kenyans of different ages who go into commercial sex business, focussing on the denial of various rights as the major cause. The Role of Culture, Bad Governance, Poverty and Corruption will be discussed as contributors to the denial of these rights. Critically examining the Kenyan Constitution as the key source of law, statutory law that is relevant to the sex workers: Penal Code Cap 63 of The Laws of Kenya and the Sexual Offences Act No.3 of 2006, International law treaties and conventions mainly: ICCPR and CEDAW and Human Rights Committee reports on Kenya. The Current state of sex workers rights in Kenya will be discussed in light of different event over the past years. Further a comparative analysis of other countries that have a different or similar approach to Kenya.

Today, women's economic empowerment has become an essential component of economic development programming. However, it is now known that improvement in women's economic situation often comes with heavy unanticipated costs to women. Violence, in particular, is too often a by-product, as our research and that of others elsewhere have shown.

This paper shares the Kenya findings and experiences of the regional research study “Supporting Business Opportunities for Women in East and Southern Africa: the Case of Zimbabwe, Uganda and Kenya”. The 2 year (2016-2018) longitudinal study was implemented by; Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) - Uganda, The Institute of Environmental Studies (IES), University of Zimbabwe and Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development (Kenya) as the research partners in respective countries. The research is supported by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) - Canada. 
The main research question was: How can rural African women be supported to overcome structural barriers to become more innovative and take advantage of the opportunities available to increase income and create decent employment?
The project sought to use action research to improve the existing capacity to design, develop and implement policies that attract more women in rural areas to go up the value chain and engage in agri-business and well as off-farm business activities. The case studies were to provide useful comparisons between the three countries as well as new knowledge that can inform best practices and innovative interventions for other countries in East and Southern Africa. Currently, there is not sufficient empirical information to initiate targeted programmes for women’s economic empowerment in agriculture and services.

Social and cultural constraints in remote rural areas alienate women and limit their human development. However, there is potential for engagement in educational and economic activities to support their empowerment and the achievement of wider development goals.

This paper examines aspects of feminisation among a group of
transwomen funeral performers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It
highlights the health hazards faced by members of this vulnerable
social group as the result of the use of non-medically prescribed
hormone therapy, silicone injection and sex reassignment surgery
in the absence of legal provision regulating these practices. The
analysis is conducted against the backdrop of overlapping discourses of sex and gender identity, class, medicalisation and politics, both locally and globally.

This working paper seeks to examine the relationship between unpaid care work and paid work that women in low-income households in Nepal perform, and whether, and if so how, they are able to maintain a balance between the two. It also examines the causes and consequences of the double burden on the physical and emotional wellbeing of women and their children. Further, the paper aims to create knowledge about how different stakeholders such as family, community, employers and state can contribute to women’s economic empowerment such that their economic empowerment is optimised (women’s entry into paid work is enabled without deepening their time poverty or worrying about the quality of care received by their family), shared (across generations, so that other women/girls in the family are not left to bear the burden of care) and sustained (such that the quality of care provided to children improves as a result of their mother’s paid work).
By examining women’s participation in two economic empowerment programmes – the Enterprise Development Programme (EDP) in Surkhet district and Karnali Employment Programme (KEP) in Jumla district – it also provides policy inputs on how women’s economic empowerment (WEE) policy and programming can generate a ‘double boon’: paid work that empowers women and provides more support for their unpaid care work.

Many refugee and non-refugee women in Jordan suffer from a high level of economic challenges. In many Middle Eastern societies, social norms impede women’s movements outside of the family sphere, and this causes them to have lower economic independence. Discrimination towards women often takes away their right to education, skills and knowledge, which ends up limiting their productive capacity and opportunity to earn income. Women’s responsibility for childbirth and traditional gender roles limit women from paid work opportunities.

Through the case study of a home-based income generating project in Jordan, designed for the Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanian women, this paper aims to analyze and understand what are the realistic perceived opinions and results of the participants regarding the economic, psychological and social impact of the project.
A qualitative data collection was employed with a sample of 23 participants from Zaatari Refugee Camp and the host community of Zarqa. Data obtained from interviews using questionnaires revealed that the project was perceived to be an effective model for alleviating poverty and enhancing quality of life of beneficiaries. However, participants expressed the need and desire for the project expansion in order to receive a higher volume of work and to earn a higher income.
The final conclusion drawn is that this project is achieving its aims, although there is room for improvement in terms of knowledge, skills imparted, quantity of workload offered, structuring of the organisation and participation of beneficiaries in decision-making.

Gender disparities in India, gender inequality of health & nutrition, educational variations in gender disparity, Gender disparitiesof Women's Employment & Economic Status.
Objective of the Research: -
1. To the study of women Empowerment and its impact of women health and child health & its immunizations.
2. To the study of Gender Differences in Educational Performance for women.
3. To the study of Women's Employment & Economic Status.

The dairy sector contributes to economic growth and poverty alleviation of Afghanistan. An average of 1-2 cows is normally reared by 49 percent of the rural population (NRVA, 2012)1. Dairy production is vastly organized by women at the household level, but they are mostly not visible as dairy producers. It is obvious that women's inclusiveness in the dairy value chain creates a win-win situation because they have the potential to increase milk volume and quality, lead individual milk production toward formal marketing channels. Whereas urbanization is rapidly growing and dairy demand is expanding, the dairy sector, particularly commercial value chain linkage between rural areas and urban markets in increasingly becoming important in Afghanistan. This scenario attracts developmental organizations and donor-funded projects and engages them in diverse dairy programs. As much as demand increasing in urban areas the role of women is becoming
visible in the dairy sector of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the dairy sector is ultimately becoming the safety net for deprived communities and rural women. It generates income, reduces poverty, and
engage women as an important player of the chain. Although women with tertiary education have a labor force participation rate of no less than 78 percent (NRVA Report, 2012), only less than one in five (19 percent) of the working-age females is currently active on the labor market, against 80 percent of males. A gap of 61 percent is indicating that women are still a significant untapped economic potential. A report published by FAO recommends that direct improvements
in agricultural output and food security are just one part of the significant gains that could be achieved by ensuring that women have equal access to resources and opportunities. Closing the gender gap in agriculture would put more resources in the hands of women and strengthen their voice within the household. A research project exploring gender gaps for Tanzanian women is concluding that women groups are better off in terms of having access to and control over
income obtained from the sales of dairy products than those who are not in groups. Women who are not yet in groups are encouraged to join or form women,'s, dairy groups. Similarly, to realize the optimal performance of these groups, several efforts such as active participation of group activities among members, more financial and technical support from NGO’s, development partners and government agencies are needed.
Badakhshan is an extremely remote province where women and men utilize limited income-generating resources. Women contribute significant amounts of time to agriculture and livestock production. In Northeast Afghanistan, such as in Badakhshan, women’s contribution to
agricultural activities, in terms of time allocation, equals that of men (World Bank, 2009). The World Bank report shows work responsibility of men and women in cattle rearing indicating that NRVA,2012. National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Report FAO,2011. The State of Food and Agriculture: Women in Agriculture-closing the gender gap for Development  EG Kimaro, JG Lyimo-Macha, and J N Jeckoniah, 2013. Gender role in smallholder dairy farming. pertinent issues on access and control over dairy farming resources in Arumero District, Tanzania
Afghan women take higher responsibility in cattle feeding, tending, watering, and milking as 69,81, 63, and 84 percent respectively, while men have a higher responsibility in decision making like feed purchasing, animal purchasing, and animal selling. It proves that women’s contribution is significant in the dairy sector but needs inclusiveness in the decision making process. Women have a higher role in milk selling as indicated by 52 percent in the World Bank report but this percentage includes milk selling to neighbors, relatives, and villagers because presently women have limited access to the market due to social and cultural limitations. Women interviewed for this assessment confirms that they occasionally sell small quantity m

This note examines MGNREGA to understand how women’s economic empowerment (WEE) policy and programming can generate a ‘double boon’ – paid work that empowers women and provides more support for their unpaid care work responsibilities. The research was carried out using a mixed-methods approach in the districts of Dungarpur and Udaipur in Rajasthan, India with both MGNREGA participants and non-participants, with the additional criterion of them having at least one child under six years old.

The present study focuses on the economic empowerment of working women by contributing in household economy by working both inside and outside their homes. The study was conducted in the village of Karimabad in district Hunza, Gilgit Baltistan. Data was collected from 100 respondents with the help of simple random sampling technique, after building a sampling frame of working women in the area with the help of key informants. The study utilized various data collection methods like socio- economic census forms, case studies, participant observation, and key informant method. The study shows a significant yet unrecognized role of women in the economy, where they work both inside and outside their homes. Mostly the women working inside their homes engaged in agriculture, handicraft and vocational work, while women working outside the premises of their homes were involved in various educational, Community Based Organizations, NGOs and Public Organizations. Tabulated data shows that 63% were
attached with miscellaneous professions categorized as others occupations like teachers, professors, clerks, lower division clerks, shopkeepers and restaurant owners. While, 25% worked in different Community Based Organizations, NGOs and Public Organizations and 12% were attached with agriculture, poultry farming, handicrafts and sewing clothes.

With the assistance of donors, the Government of Afghanistan has started to enact a wide-range of policy actions aiming to provide Afghan women with equal access to resources and opportunities for participation in the country’s economy. However, the implementation of these women-centred policies remains weak and leaves women to fight alone against daily challenges due to the lack of their equal acceptance in society. The paper aims to shed light on some of the many issues that can only be addressed if peace is achieved. Overall, the paper is focused on Afghan women employability and entrepreneurship opportunities for engagement in economic development. Authors argue that in the context of Afghanistan, women’s economic empowerment requires better policymaking, which can in turn improve the level of policy implementation in different parts of the country. The paper highlights the need for rethinking government economic policies with an emphasis on the essential components of women’s economic empowerment such as security and innovative opportunities for women’s participation in national and local economic development.

Criteria of Contemporary Context of Women Empowerment
Research Objectives
1. To study the concept of women empowerment.
2. To study the contemporary criteria or basis of women empowerment.
Research study methods
The dissertation presented is based on the concept of women empowerment. Empowerment of women is a concept that empowers a woman, that is, destroys her weakness, creates awareness about her body, mind, intellect and self and motivates her towards self-development accordingly. The criteria required for women empowerment are explained here through the presented short research paper, for which various researches on women empowerment, various bibliographies and the views of various scholars have been taken here.

Women's economic empowerment as an imperative goal for societies to work towards has increasingly taken center-fold in the public policy domain; however, the ability to operationalize this goal and to measure whether " empowerment " is being achieved has become a challenge faced by the multitude of actors engaged in this space. This especially holds true for the growing contingency of corporations who seek to leverage their global reach to unlock access to markets. This paper explores the measurement challenges facing corporations that aim to economically empower women using market-based approaches. Based on an extensive literature review and critique of the women's economic empowerment literature, and the preliminary findings from a study conducted on a piloted corporate intervention (which endeavored to empower women-owned businesses by giving them access to a large retailer's consumer base), we note two important issues: (i) the theory of change underlying market-based economic empowerment initiatives holds faulty assumptions; (ii) these assumptions combined with a tendency to employ business metrics to measure economic empowerment have the potential to lead to missed opportunities, codify gender biases, and result in disempowerment if misinterpreted.

En este trabajo se estudia la dinámica del mercado laboral salvadoreño con el fin de identificar los factores que facilitan a los individuos alcanzar y permanecer en trabajos “favorables” y si estos factores difieren entre mujeres y hombres. El objetivo es aportar conocimiento útil para el diseño de intervenciones de política pública que considere aspectos diferenciados para ambos sexos.
Por medio del uso de datos de panel a nivel individual y de hogar, se examinan las transiciones entre estados laborales favorables, no favorables y la inactividad; asimismo, cómo esas transiciones son influenciadas por características individuales, del hogar, del entorno y del trabajo. Se considera como estado laboral favorable el empleo asalariado formal y el trabajo por cuenta propia con un ingreso superior al salario mínimo. El análisis se complementa con entrevistas a profundidad con mujeres, del área rural y urbana, de diferentes perfiles.

This paper explores the emerging pattern of changes in the economic activities of women in the village of Zandra (District Ziarat), Balochistan by assessing their direct and indirect contribution to the household economy. Women's indirect contribution to the village is not a new development; they have been contributing in this way for centuries. They have always worked in horticulture and agriculture along with the men of their families. Over the last three decades, however, a major change has occurred; women are now entering the employment sector. This change has resulted in a shift from an informal economy to a formal economy as women move from horticultural activities within the household to employment outside the home. The swing to the employment sector has ushered in significant changes in their daily lives and altered the family power equation. This paper, drawing upon the findings of a recent study analyzing women's economic contribution in the light of the world-systems theory at the micro level, raises questions regarding the nature of this change and its impact on family life. The data used in this paper was collected by applying qualitative anthropological research techniques.

Women are often excluded from public decision-making processes, yet their voice and leadership are essential components of gender equality. A recent study by CARE shows that economic empowerment positively affects women’s meaningful participation in decision-making processes. Having independent income shifts the power dynamics within the household and enhances women’s status in the community, facilitating women’s ability to participate in public spaces.

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, or the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006, recognizes tribal women’s rights to own land equal to those of men. In exploring whether women’s rights to forest land and resources has led to their improved socioeconomic status, this paper examines two key facets of the process of empowerment—“access to resources” and “women’s agency.” As access to resources required to meet household and other needs, such as water, cooking fuel, or health facilities have remained poor, access to land under the Act has been able to make only a marginal difference to the economic status of the women who have received plots. But the new found confidence of women for no longer being considered asset-less was clearly evident; this was especially true for widowed women. By gaining land ownership, women have begun questioning entrenched social practices such as polygyny. While the Act has failed to encourage women to participate in the public domain actively, the improvement in their social engagements and mobility has been attributed to training and access to information, facilitated by community based organizations.

In this paper a study was carried out to assess the contribution and impact of forestry resource on the economy of the State of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, as 42% of the total area is covered by forests. To conduct the study both secondary and primary data was used. Secondary data was collected from different public sector concerned departments. Primary data was collected through a comprehensive questionnaire from 212 selected respondents by using convenience sampling of 3 Forest Divisions which were 16% of total targeted population. Multiple Regression Model was applied by using last twenty years secondary data of ten sectors of the economy. The value indicates goodness of fit of the model. The results show that forestry resources are an important contributor to the state's National Income. The study recommends concerted efforts and integrated policy making to conserve the fragile eco system of mountainous areas like AJK. The primary and secondary data reveals that 16000 people are availing job opportunities through forestry resource.

Access to financial services is an essential component for improving women economic empowerment, reducing gender disparities and alleviating poverty. The objective of this study is to examine women social, political, and economic empowerment as a result of an on-going Union Council-based poverty reduction programme; implemented in 8 districts of Sindh province with main provision of zero-interest based loan facility available for women.

The study reveals that while having provision of interest free financing available at grass-root level, a social mobilisation approach that encourages women to become part of community level organisations i.e. from neighbourhood to union council level, helped women to assert their basic living rights. Families and communities allowed women to organise and participate jointly in the financial system; which encourage women to help and manage financial and other economic risks, to support their families by starting or expanding micro business enterprises, and to involve in community decision making.



Key Words: Financial Inclusion, Women Economic Empowerment, Social Mobilisation, Micro Enterprises, Community Investment Fund

O presente trabalho investiga se as diretrizes internacionais da ONU para o empoderamento econômico das mulheres, alinham-se com as políticas públicas com recorte de gênero implementadas no governo Dilma Rousseff, a partir do conceito de difusão internacional de políticas públicas (DOLOWITZ, MARSH, 2000; ZAEI, 2014; BERNARDO, 2016; FARIA, 2018). Por meio da abordagem qualitativa, foi criado um quadro analítico-interpretativo, a fim de identificar, na primeira seção, os conceitos e instrumentos internacionais que poderiam representar fontes de difusão de políticas internacionais. E, na segunda, as leis pró gênero promulgadas entre 2011 e 2016, bem como a norma específica sobre empoderamento econômico das mulheres e compará-la com as resoluções internacionais acerca do tema. A análise considera que instrumentos internacionais difundiram, via emulação (DOLOWITZ, MARSH, 2000), objetivos políticos para a lei adotada no Brasil, em 2013, a qual visa a promoção do empoderamento econômico de mulheres.

GT 18 -Políticas públicas de gênero no Brasil do século XXI: avanços e desafios

UN Women in collaboration with Timeless Conference organized a Market Place at the Timeless Conference 2016. This booklet is a collation of case studies, good practices and innovations by diverse organizations/ agencies demonstrating good practices in operationalizing normative framework on Women’s Socio-Economic Empowerment. The initiatives documented form part of the Market Place at the Timeless Conference and are innovative and cutting edge examples of interventions/ programmes that could be replicated elsewhere and scaled up for impact to increase socio-economic impacts on women and girls in Africa. They demonstrate evidence on how organizations/ agencies work on women’s socio-economic empowerment and have contributed to improving women’s social and economic empowerment in Africa. The main purpose of the market place is to create a culture of innovative business models and initiatives that guarantee wealth and job creation while implementing ideas that create socio-economic transformation in the lives of women in Africa.

In the booklet, initiatives around cross border trade have been shared. In this regard, TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) shares their work in addressing the gender-based constraints that prevent women from participating in regional and international trade.

Initiatives around energy and environment have also been documented. The National Environment Trust Fund showcases their support to rural households in the upscaling of innovative and cost effective interventions to expand the off-grid access of rural households to electricity through mini-hydroelectricity generation. Green Energy Africa has showcased their work on increasing the use of solar energy as an alternative form of energy in Kenya.

Innovative models of entrepreneurial initiatives targeting women entrepreneurs were also documented. While Small and Medium Entrepreneurial Resource Centre-SME offers information, assistance and empowerment in entrepreneurship to women entrepreneurs, Etiquette Xllent provides professional etiquette skills development to women entrepreneurs. Mpension by CPF Financial Services Limited has been showcased under this category and is reported to drive social security adoption through its flexible payment options to women.

Agricultural and environmental innovations have been showcased including that of KPMC which provides comprehensive inputs and packages to farmers.  In the category, The Hive Ltd also showcases an integrated Apibusiness model of The Hive Beekeepers Kits which aims to economically empower women by introducing them to Apibusiness. Another initiative by Christian Aid Malawi which delivers positive and sustainable change in the lives of 9000 Malawian small holder farmers through increasing productivity and incomes whilst creating an environment that promotes growth of pigeon peas value chain has also been documented. Botanic Treasures Ltd has shown how they transform lives through nutrition- working with over 500 small holder farmers to cultivate highly nutritious, drought resistant Moringa tree and processing the plant into marketable health food products that are marketed nationally and internationally.

Women’s engagement in the male dominated sectors like the construction industry has also been showcased by the Timeless Women of Wonder Foundation.

Finally, a regional innovation focusing on women in the extractive industries has also been showcased in the booklet. The initiative, hosted by UN Women Eastern and Southern Regional Office in collaboration with the African Union, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and various partners focused on the overarching theme of Building on Good Practices while offering an inspiration for sharing knowledge and experiences, establishing partnerships and developing solutions to stimulate interest and collaborative efforts in engendering the extractive industries in Africa. It also generated concrete business linkages to women in the extractive industries. 

It is our hope that the documented initiatives are replicated to increase and expand impact on women’s lives in our countries and communities. At its core, the Market Place functions through gallery dialogues, knowledge mapping and sharing, and production of knowledge products exhibiting selected initiatives on women’s socio-economic empowerment. This is also premised on the fact that South-South (S-S) cooperation has been on the radar screen for several years now. Finding mechanisms to make it work is a challenge for all stakeholders who believe S-S cooperation can significantly support development. The Market Place offers a sustainable solution to South- South Corporation besides offering a platform for regional linkages.

With the assistance of donors, the Government of Afghanistan has started to enact a wide-range of policy actions aiming to provide Afghan women with equal access to resources and opportunities for participation in the country’s economy. However, the implementation of these women-centered policies remains weak and leaves women to fight alone against daily challenges due to the lack of their equal acceptance in society. The paper aims to shed light on some of the many issues that can only be addressed if peace is achieved. Overall, the paper is focused on Afghan women employability and entrepreneurship opportunities for engagement in economic development. The paper argues that in the context of Afghanistan, women’s economic empowerment requires better policymaking, which can in turn improve the level of policy implementation in different parts of the country. The paper highlights the need for rethinking government economic policies with an emphasis on the essential components of women’s economic empowerment such as security and innovative opportunities for women’s participation in national and local economic development

.Pashtun women are facing issues which are much more serious than the issues faced by the women of rest of the country and they need serious attention. These issues begin from patriarchy and poverty to terrorism and multiplied by war on terrorism. The deep rooted patriarchy has woven a pashtun woman in the web of customary practices called ‘Riwaj’ such as...

The profiles’ goal is to inform people, based on records/data, about advantages, capacities and potential of the analysed groups of women and contribution they can make to the development, their interaction environments, opportunities they benefit from or are deprived of, restrictions and impediments they face. The profiles include
fact analysis of the described vulnerable group (by subpopulations) and comparative analysis with the opposite group (non-vulnerable) of women (sometimes with the appropriate male group), quantitative and qualitative data from different available official (official and administrative statistics) and independent (researches, surveys)
sources were combined and used.
This Paper is for decision-makers, policymakers, civil society and general public and aims at increasing the level of data understanding and at providing examples related to use of multidimensionally disaggregated statistics, in order to determine the measures of intervention needed to promote equality, inclusion and cohesion, non-discrimination and acceptance of the under-represented groups of women.
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