Report:
A Rights-Based Approach to Realizing the Economic and Social Rights of Poor and Marginalized Women

This report presents a framework of a rights-based approach to development that focuses on accountability from the state and community, as opposed to a more traditional approach which tends to focus on charity and is based on a patron-client relationship. Drawing on findings from six ICRW-supported projects, this report distills essential steps to realizing a rights-based approach to development.

Click here to read the report.

Project Update: Reducing HIV/AIDS Through Women's Property Rights

Women own less than 15 percent of land worldwide. Without official title to land and property, women have fewer economic options and virtually no collateral for obtaining loans and credit.

In the context of HIV and AIDS, women's lack of ownership and control over such economic assets as housing and land can leave them destitute. This is especially true in communities where AIDS-related stigma is high and widows can become socially isolated.

Read more here.

 

EXPLORE OUR WORK

Adolescence | HIV and AIDS | Food Security & Nutrition | Economic Development | Reproductive Health | Violence Against Women | Women's Right

 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Research | Insight | Action & Advocacy | Projects

Throughout the world, women play crucial roles in driving economic development. Their contributions, however, often are underestimated and undervalued due to gender inequalities. The World Bank states that in sub-Saharan Africa alone, gender inequality has suppressed annual per capita growth by nearly 1 percent.*

ICRW's research shows how to lift societies out of poverty by addressing gender norms that deprive women and girls of economic opportunities such as education, credit and economic rights.

Research

When ICRW was established in 1976, little was known about the extent to which women contributed to the economies of their countries and the ways in which women's and men's different roles and responsibilities could affect poverty-reduction programs. ICRW's early work quantified women's economic participation through agriculture, trade, microenterprise and manufacturing. We also found that a growing number of poor households depend on women's income and labor for their survival.

More recently, ICRW led the U.N. Millennium Project Task Force to produce a report on how to achieve the third Millennium Development Goal of promoting gender equality and empowering women.

Today, our research continues to break new ground, such as examining how property and inheritance rights can empower women.

Insight

We now know the central role that women play in economic development. By better understanding the complex gender dynamics of women's lives in poor families, ICRW and others have discovered effective ways to strengthen women's contributions to development.

Gender refers to the widely shared expectations and norms within a society about appropriate male and female behavior, roles and responsibilities. By addressing gender issues related to poverty and economic development, women and girls are empowered to use economic resources and opportunities for their well-being and that of their families, communities and societies.

Action & Advocacy

Today ICRW is leading the global community from understanding to action that builds on women's role in the global economy. Our multidisciplinary research combined with our expertise in gender and development is helping to empower millions of women and girls, partnering with community-based organizations as well as multinational corporations such as Gap Inc. and Nike Inc.

We provide technical assistance to global institutions such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.K.'s Department for International Development (DFID), Oxfam America and the World Bank to help integrate gender into their poverty reduction programs.

Related Projects

 

*Source: Blackden, Mark & Chihtra Bhanu (1998). Gender, Growth, and Poverty Reduction: Special Program of Assistance for Africa, in World Bank Technical Paper No. 428.

 

Photo Credit:
295574-004 Ian Murphy/ courtesy of Getty Images