USAID
A similar coordinated effort for gender equality in U.S.
assistance is under way at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). In March 2011, MCC released its Gender
Integration Guidelines. In 2012, the agency added a Gender
in the Economy item to the list of criteria it uses to choose
partner countries. It assesses women’s legal status—whether
they can legally sign a contract, open a bank account, and
carry out other activities related to earning a living.
Of course, economic development depends primarily on
a country’s own initiatives—a combination of the work of
national and local governments, the private sector, communities, and individuals. In low-income countries, development assistance from the United States and others can also
contribute to progress.
Traditionally, the global private sector has been far less
active in countries seen as too poor to provide a new customer base. The exceptions tend to be oil, minerals, or other natural resource interests. But this is changing—particularly when it comes to women.
Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said in a January 2013 presentation that
while early corporate initiatives focused on philanthropy
and on industries that market specifically to women, such as
consumer packaged goods, “Now, even industries traditionally considered men’s—automotive, oil, investment banking—are finding common cause with women and girls.”
Lagarde urges the private sector to share with national
governments the compelling evidence that women are not
only valuable workers, but crucial economic actors as well.
Sudanese women use a press to extract oil from lulu nuts. A U.S.funded livelihoods program helps support dozens of processing
centers, owned and operated by women, that produce shea butter
moisturizer and soap and provide a significant source of income
for 850 Sudanese women and their families.
girls were enrolled in secondary education per 100 boys—
up from 88 girls in 1991. The disparity remains wide at the
college level and beyond, however.
The United States has helped support programs to expand opportunities for women with college degrees. In agriculture, where so many women in developing countries
work, it is especially important to have more female scientists. At CGIAR (previously the Consultative Group for
International Agricultural Research), a Gender & Diversity
Program helps advance the careers of female scientists from
all over Africa—including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
CGIAR President Kathy Sierra said, “We wanted to ensure that the results of our work are reaching African women.” Vicki Wilde, head of the Gender & Diversity Program,
added: “We cannot fight hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, unless women have a strong voice not just on the
farm, but in the lab.”
Another “prerequisite” to full economic participation is
the ability to work, and to travel to and from work, without
a constant threat of violence. Gender-based violence is all
From “Women’s Projects”
to Economic Development
When it comes to women’s economic empowerment, it’s
important to work on two fronts: enabling women to get
access to land, job opportunities, child care, access to credit,
extension services, and/or other basic ingredients for economic participation the conditions essential to establishing
a more equitable economic “playing field” for women.
One of these conditions is education. Girls are now attending primary school at almost the same rate as boys. The
gap is also narrowing in high school. Globally, in 2010, 97
1 in 7
17 percent • 20 percent • 10 percent
Percentage of India’s doctors,
dentists, and pharmacists,
respectively, who are female
Girls in developing countries who
are married before
birthday
3
their 15th