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Five Challenges, One Solution: Women: Global Agenda Council On Women's Empowerment 2011 - 2012
Five Challenges, One Solution: Women: Global Agenda Council On Women's Empowerment 2011 - 2012
Five Challenges,
One Solution: Women
March 2013
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REF 150313
Contents Five Challenges,
One Solution: Women
3 Five Challenges, One Solution: Women From unprecedented population ageing to increasing unemployment, from global
leadership imbalances to persisting conflicts, from resource scarcity to volatile global
4 Demography food supplies, the world faces a series of interconnected challenges. The Global Agenda
10 Leadership Council on Women’s Empowerment aims to highlight how women’s empowerment is a
part of the solutions to these challenges.
14 Food Security and Agriculture
This compendium outlines how women’s advancement may impact and provide solutions
18 Sustainability and Resource Scarcity to five specific global challenges:
22 Conflict – Demography
26 Members and Co-Authors – Leadership
– Food Security and Agriculture
26 References – Sustainability and Resource Scarcity
– Conflict
This report consists of five concise issue descriptions and links each challenge to
women’s empowerment and gender parity, with an emphasis on action items and
recommendations. By shedding light on the link between women’s empowerment and
a specific challenge, this compendium aims to provide non-experts with a stronger
elementary understanding of the impact that empowering women and girls can have on
their area of interest.
Globally, women are increasingly delaying marriage in part The sustained excess of male births compounded with the higher
because more of them are staying in school longer. Demand for mortality of girls has resulted in a masculinization of the populations
contraceptives is high among unmarried, sexually active women of China and India where females constitute 48.1% and 48.3% of
aged 15-19. Yet, in 30 countries, including 22 in Africa, fewer than the population respectively. Currently China has 13 million more
half of the sexually active unmarried women aged 15-19 are using men than women aged 25-49 and India has 16 million. Were sex
contraception. ratios at birth to remain high, such sex imbalances would increase
in the future, especially in China.
Endnotes
1
United Nations (UN). “World Contraceptive Use 2011”. Wall Chart, United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, Sales No. E.11.XIII.2, 2011.
2
Ortayli, N., Malarcher, S. Equity analysis: Identifying who benefits from family planning
programs. Studies in Family Planning, 41 (2):101-108, June 2010.
3
United Nations (UN). “Millennium Development Goals Report 2011”, 2011.
4
Guttmacher Institute and IPPF. “Facts on the sexual and reproductive health of adolescent
women in the developing world”, 2010.
5
United Nations (UN). “Sex Differentials in Childhood Mortality.” United Nations publication,
ST/ESA/SER.A/314, 2011.
6
World Health Organization (WHO). “Preventing gender-biased sex selection”, 2011.
Increase funding for National governments should increase budgetary allocation for family planning and seek donor
family planning support as necessary. Including the implementation of a family planning strategy in countries’ Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) should be considered.
Donor governments and philanthropic organizations should prevent the reduction of funding for family
planning while universal access to reproductive health has not been reached.
Develop a culturally National governments of countries with a high unmet need for contraception should take the
sensitive family lead in developing a comprehensive strategy to expand family planning that includes community
planning strategy and outreach, the mobilization of support from community leaders, the training of service providers and a
implement it communication programme aimed at changing norms and empowering people by providing reliable
information on contraception and guidance on how to obtain it.
Ensure that the medical The medical community should help ensure that service providers are capable of providing accurate
community supports and unbiased information on a range of contraceptive options in ways that clients can understand,
the family planning that clients can have access to a range of contraceptive methods and that unnecessary medical
strategy barriers to such access be eliminated. The business community, particularly the pharmaceutical
industry, can support these efforts by helping to develop information kits or by training medical
personnel in providing reliable information.
Ensure the availability National governments, donors and manufacturers assisted by international organizations should
of contraceptive work together to maintain an adequate flow of commodities covering a range of methods to the
commodities countries that need them. National governments and the private sector have the task of ensuring
adequate distribution of commodities within countries to avoid stockouts and to reach underserved
communities.
Develop more user- Philanthropic organizations and the private sector should collaborate in developing better
friendly contraceptives contraceptives and ensuring their production and distribution.
Reduce the incidence National governments of countries having a high incidence of early marriage among adolescent
of early marriage women should develop culturally sensitive strategies to promote the delay of marriage, including
those that focus on reducing or modifying the practice of dowry and bride-wealth payments, providing
incentives for keeping adolescent women in school or for acquiring job skills.
Ensure that adolescents National authorities, educators and non-governmental organizations should collaborate to develop
and young people have courses that provide adolescents with reliable information on human sexuality and empower them to
access to sexuality make responsible decisions regarding their sexual lives, in particular by developing their negotiating
education skills, addressing gender double standards and developing their capacity to build equitable relations
with partners and peers.
Engage the medical National authorities and the medical community should ensure that family planning and information
system in a about how to prevent sexually transmitted infections are an integral part of the minimum healthcare
commitment to provide package offered to adolescents and young people under primary care and remove legal, financial and
sexual and reproductive cultural obstacles that prevent or limit their access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services.
health services to
adolescents and young
people
Reduce son preference Governments should enact gender neutral inheritance laws and land rights, work to modify or
by focusing on reducing weaken the dowry system, provide incentives for girls and young women to improve their educational
the root causes of such attainment and become gainfully employed, and expand the social safety net so it can provide
preference security in old age.
Conduct a National authorities assisted as appropriate by the private sector and non-governmental organizations
communication should undertake a communications campaign to transmit positive messages about the value of girls
campaign in favour of and the real and potential contributions of women to their birth families, and to showcase women’s
girls successes. The campaign may be accompanied by measures that give preferential treatment to girls
and women in terms of scholarships, gender-based quotas for employment or financial incentives
directed to their families.
The plight and power of rural adolescent girls Pricing and wages
– Ensure gender equitable purchasing prices for smallholder
Young women and adolescent girls’ contribution to agriculture is
producers and equal pay for equal work for agricultural labourers
unrecognized, yet they work alongside their mothers and other
– Adopt explicit procurement policies to increase purchases from
family members in fields and gardens, tending livestock, collecting
female smallholder producers
water and doing domestic chores. The increase in female-headed
– Where needed, encourage women producers to form
rural households due to male out-migration augments agricultural cooperatives to enter into supply chains to access inputs, benefit
and domestic work for adolescent girls, creating pressure from training and reduce transaction costs for companies and
to drop out of school and marry early. These factors cause their intermediaries
intergenerational cycles of poverty and hunger – particularly for – Undertake comprehensive gender-based analyses and market
girls. research to identify opportunities for women to take on specific
segments of the agriculture or livestock value chain
Yet undeniably, tremendous potential remains untapped in – Invest in niche cash crops for women (saffron, organic farming)
empowering and investing in the capacities of roughly 283 million as well as traditional women’s agricultural activities (honey
rural adolescent girls.9 Increased global attention and resources production, livestock and poultry rearing, vegetable and
are urgently needed to help support, empower and invest in rural mushroom production) that increase both household nutritional
adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 18. security and income
– Working in partnership with women’s business groups and non-
governmental organizations, promote women to take on roles
as intermediaries to ensure better terms of trade, and train male
intermediaries in gender equality
16 Five Challenges, One Solution: Women
– Promote gender parity in contracts, services and resources 3. The infrastructure sector should:
focusing on agriculture
Farm to market roads
Branding and marketing – Help engineering firms, government and lenders undertake
– Support training for women’s cooperatives in marketing their thorough gender analyses prior to designing and investing in farm
products and in negotiating prices to ensure better terms of trade to market roads, electrification and safe water supplies
for poor women
– Invest in certification processes for products and brands Irrigation and water harvesting
promoting women’s empowerment and fair trade – Invest in low-cost, locally-adapted and environmentally-friendly
– Through partnerships with information and communications irrigation and water harvesting systems to increase agriculture
technology (ICT) providers, provide market information tools and production and reduce the time it takes to fetch water, since a
systems (especially mobile technology) focused on women’s majority of female farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture and
needs, including ICT enabled extension services and price women and girls are responsible for much of the household water
information collection
– Help agribusinesses introduce voucher and agriculture fairs for
easy access to agricultural inputs and the marketing of agricultural Processing and packaging
produce – Promote low-cost and environmentally-friendly packaging
technologies and links to job opportunities for youth (adolescent
Access to inputs girls)
– Provide inputs ahead of time and guarantee price at harvest
– Coordinate the provision of agriculture extension services with the 4. Transforming structures and policies. Public, private and civil
supply of inputs and explicitly target women farmers (e.g. TATA’s society stakeholders, including women’s groups, should coordinate
hub-and-spoke model in India)13 efforts to pursue clear advocacy and policy-change initiatives that
address key gender inequalities that underscore food insecurity and
agricultural development. Among them:
Adapted technologies and skills
– Support the recruitment and training of women extension workers – Support land coalition partnerships to address bottlenecks to
(currently only 15% are women) women’s access to land
– Invest in improved labour-saving, low-cost and locally-made – Promote Public-Private Partnerships and networks that address
technologies to reduce the workload of women smallholders and women’s empowerment and gender equality in addressing food
their family members security and agriculture, and deepen the gender strategies of
– Support government or private-run market-facing vocational existing and new PPPs and networks
training centres that specialize in the promotion of agro- – Support female farmer associations’ active involvement in national
enterprises and agricultural transformation techniques, and help decision-making on access to agriculture and food security
women enter the value chain matters
– Systematically ensure that new agricultural technologies are – Ensure that gender experts are involved in government food
pre-tested with women farmers (e.g. the promotion of drought- security, agriculture planning and strategy incorporating gender
resistant crop varieties, mechanized farming methods and analysis (including value chain analysis) and disaggregated data
conservation agriculture) collection on the access/control of agricultural resources
– Encourage local production and the multiplication of improved – Ensure corporate social responsibility standards and certification
seed varieties, own plots or leased plots for women, and promote processes for agricultural products address gender inequalities in
the involvement of adolescent girls in the marketing of improved a more robust manner
seed varieties – Support measures to eliminate gender-based violence against
women in the agricultural sector
2. The financial and risk management sectors should: – Encourage government and donors to commit dedicated budget
allocations for women in the agricultural sector and to design
Insurance strategies through which more resources will reach women,
– Encourage mitigation against disaster and climate change and its including trade and financing policies
differential impact on women’s and men’s food security through
the diversification of livelihoods and investment in safety nets Endnotes
– Promote innovative weather-indexed insurance for crops and
livestock for women farmers based on a gender analysis and its 1
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “The State of Food and Agriculture, 2010-2011:
recommendations Women in Agriculture, Closing the Gender Gap for Development”, Rome, 2011.
2
– Support low-cost storage facilities controlled by women United Nations (UN). “Report of the Secretary-General: Strengthening Efforts to Eradicate
Poverty and Hunger, Including Through the Global Partnership for Development (E/2007/71)”,
cooperatives (see Box 2) New York, 2007.
3
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). “Women’s Economic
Finance Empowerment.” Issue Paper, Prepared by DAC Network on Gender Equality (GENDERNET),
– Support initiatives for adolescent girls and young women to April 2011.
4
enter in savings and microcredit schemes to further agricultural Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). “Climate Change and Food Security: A
Framework Document”, Rome, 2008.
production 5
Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). “Private-Sector Engagement in Food
– Promote the pre-financing of female farmers by agribusinesses so Security and Agriculture Development”, 2012.
they can access needed inputs in a timely manner 6
Strom, Stephanie. “PepsiCo to Foster Chickpeas in Ethiopia”. The New York Times, 20
– Increase the provision of mobile banking in rural areas and ensure September 2011.
women are trained in the use of mobile banks (savings, ATM, 7
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Improving Opportunities for Women in Smallholder-
debit) to reduce time and the risks linked to travelling to banks based Supply Chains: Business Case and Practical Guidance for International Food
Companies”. Seattle, 2010.
and to increased savings 8
ACDI/VOCA. “Smallholder Horticulture Outgrower Promotion (SHOP) Project, Final SHOP
– Negotiate with commodity traders who deal in agricultural Project Report”. 2009.
products related to food security to invest a percentage of sales 9
Bertini, C. “Girls Grow: A Vital Force in Rural Economies. A Girls Count Report on
from trading in initiatives that empower poor, rural women farmers Adolescent Girls”. Chicago: The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, 2011.
10
worldwide ActionAid. “Farming as Equals: How Supporting Women’s Rights and Gender Equality
Makes the Difference”, May 2011.
– Provide start-up funds, loans and support for women-led 11
World Bank. “Gender: Working towards Greater Equality, Gender Equality as Smart
incubators to enter value chains in agriculture or food security Economics”. 2006.
12
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welt Hunger Hilfe Concern. “Global
Hunger Index: The Challenge of Hunger: Focus on Financial Crisis and Gender Inequality.”
IFPRI Issue Brief 62, 2009.
13
Jiggins, J., Samanta, R. K., Olawoye, J. “Improving women farmers’ access to extension
services”, Improving Agricultural Extension. A Reference Manual, Swanson, B., Bentz, R.,
Sofranko, A. (eds), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 1997.
1. Production Phase – Women as Resource Managers Essential to unlocking women’s potential in this space is
Women are good stewards of resources – generally better than education. Education means giving women a voice in the entire
men, as they are more greatly affected than men and carry the development process, it means considering their needs in how
greater burden of work both in domestic and economic activities; they use the natural environment for subsistence and income,
women carry on average 53% of the total work burden in and it means providing them with the tools they need to replicate
developing countries and 51% in industrial countries.1 This situation sustainable solutions both in their home and in their surrounding
is made worse by fuel scarcity and negative health and safety community from a “bottom-up” approach. This will require the
impacts, such as indoor air pollution, which kills an estimated 1.5 business sector’s extensive involvement, ensuring the equitable
million women and children in the developing world each year. representation of women, from policy-makers to researchers and
suppliers, and venture capital funds. By integrating education
Women in developing countries spend longer hours working in in how they interact with women, corporations could potentially
survival activities, including collecting firewood, hauling water, transform women from simple household producers to resource
processing food and cooking. They bear the invisible burden managers, from end-consumers to utility maximizers and from
of the human energy crisis – their time and effort in agricultural community organizers to change agents.
processing and transport. They need modern and more efficient
energy sources to improve their work and quality of life both within
and outside the home. In addition, women have less access
than men to the credit, extension, land and training necessary to
improve energy access and support their livelihoods and income
generation from microenterprises.
Sample Players World Bank, OECD, Dept. of Companies, Venture Capital Small-business and Micro-
Energy, etc. Funds enterprises, Community-led
organizations
Research and – Commission studies from – Integrate the R&D findings – Be active participants
Development universities and research into how they design, in communicating their
institutions on sustainability produce and market the needs across different
solutions where women RETs stakeholders
can play a role
– Provide incentive schemes
for R&D around RETs that
take into account women’s
input for product design
Capacity Building and – Provide support for – Resource Identification: – Resource Management
Technical Expertise programmes through Conduct a thorough and Consumption: Adopt
grants, financing, tax assessment of the and integrate the new
incentives or subsidies for applicable sustainability sustainable method in their
market enablers to adopt alternatives in the daily household activities
sustainability and energy community – Marketing/Outreach: Both
technologies best suited to – Financing: Provide different market and train end-users
women credit schemes for the in the community that can
community or end-users to adopt the new sustainable
acquire the product model or technology (i.e.
– Resource Management schools, clinics, shops)
and Consumption:
Provide training around
the processing steps and
application of the new
technology
– Marketing/Outreach: Build
small-scale female-led
businesses/ organizations
responsible for promoting
the product in the
community
Leadership – Promote the creation of – Provide organizational and – Effectively lead and manage
Advancement female-led sustainable team-building development local organizations or
enterprises by supporting with local grassroots small-scale enterprises in
venture capital funds organizations in order to be the community responsible
that allocate funding and sustainable in the long run for permeating the
technical assistance to this new technology in the
segment community
– Engage women in the
policy design process by
supporting the creation of
women’s organizations in
sustainability
Household and Child – Assess the possible – Develop training materials – Apply the educational
Development integration of a and programmes to curriculum to how they
sustainability and promote and improve run their household and
energy curriculum in the public understanding educate their children
educational system with on sustainability and
gender considerations resource management with
considerations on how
mothers can play a key role
Astute companies realize that the empowerment of women in In the years leading to the 1994 elections, women in South Africa
post-conflict environments not only leads to maximizing value formed a strong National Women’s Coalition that cut across
for their stakeholders but, more importantly, contributes to racial, political and social lines, and was instrumental in creating
their so-called “triple bottom line” – a measurement that goes and sustaining the peace accord and in drafting a democratic
beyond the traditional measures of profits, return on investment Constitution and Bill of Rights. The Coalition also assisted in setting
and shareholder value to include social and environmental the 30% quota for women in all parties in parliament.
measurements.
Lessons can also be learned from various other countries that
Indeed, a clear business case can be made for companies to have empowered women to contribute to key decision-making
mainstream women’s empowerment when addressing post- structures, thereby encouraging them to seek solutions to
war challenges. Developing women as leaders, entrepreneurs, challenges faced by their countries. For example:
educators, producers, employees, etc., and understanding them – The Netherlands has introduced a programme entitled
as active consumers and as having an impact on a particular “Engendering the Peace Process” that encourages Israel and
state’s economy should ultimately increase the bottom line of a Palestine to appoint more women to negotiating teams and
business and maximize shareholder value. political decision-making posts in the ongoing Middle East
peace process.
The political empowerment of women post-war is a key route to – In Africa, a “First Ladies for Peace Initiative” developed in early
improving their status and that of society as a whole as it provides 1997 has hosted conferences on peace and humanitarian
them with a voice within key decision-making processes. This in issues. The conferences’ resolutions have been presented to
turn gives them access to resources and to the institutions that African heads of state and their governments.
shape social norms and attitudes.
– Belgium has initiated a joint project with the United Nations
Post-war, women often assume a new economic role as they Children’s Fund (UNICEF) through which a women’s non-
become the primary breadwinners in their families. Developing governmental organization identifies detained children and
women as entrepreneurs and teaching them special skills in this negotiates their release from rebel soldiers. Belgium has also
new role increases their ability to obtain employment and improve supported the use of women mediators in conflict situations
their standard of living, makes them self-sustainable and ultimately and has developed an initiative for peacebuilding between the
provides the country and its economy with the impetus required to women of two parties in conflict.
recover from the conflict’s devastating economic effects. – Georgia has adopted a Plan of Action for Improving Women’s
Conditions, which includes a mechanism that ensures the
Educating women not only empowers them but also contributes to active involvement of women in decision-making in armed
the global competitiveness of their country. The future economic conflicts and peace building.
competitiveness of a country will increasingly depend on how well – The United Kingdom has taken steps to ensure that women are
it educates its young women (and less on the magnitude of its included in the peace process in Northern Ireland.
natural resources or the ownership of territories). – In several countries, including the United Kingdom and the
United States, women occupy such high-level decision-making
posts as secretary of state and departmental heads. These
posts have important implications for conflict prevention and
Analysis peace processes.
Why big business should mainstream the empowerment of women – In Colombia, pressure from women’s groups during the
when developing solutions to post-conflict challenges 1980s and 1990s was pivotal in pressuring the Colombian
Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC) to engage in peace talks in 1999. Even after the
1. Enabling the political empowerment of women. collapse of peace talks in 2002, women’s groups remained
The political empowerment of women is regarded as the main steadfast in their cause to encourage a peaceful resolution to
route to improving their status; it provides them with a voice within the conflict.
key decision-making processes. History has shown that strong
women leaders have the fortitude to propel countries (and by To realize the vision of the political empowerment of women,
extension, the businesses that operate within those countries) onto sustainable advancement depends on alliances whereby better-
a positive trajectory. educated urban women exert pressure for solving the concrete
problems of poorer women in exchange for their political support.
An example of conflict-induced gender inequality is Sierra Leone. Although such alliances are difficult, new grassroots women’s
This inequality is attributed to a long-standing history of conflict organizations have achieved positive initial results, which can be
marked by a history of colonialism, heightened by the civil war consolidated and expanded by appropriate partnerships with
of 1992. Sierra Leonean women are today among the most international women non-governmental organizations.
marginalized in the world – socially, economically and politically.
Hence, programming interventions should endeavour to build on
However, the country has made progress since the end of the these positive aspects by supporting initiatives that take advantage
civil war, bolstered by post-conflict reconstruction programmes of the shifts in gender power relationships, while remaining aware
and donor pressure. Collectively, these efforts are offering new of potential resentment from men because of women’s positive
opportunities for women’s progress. Hopes in the area are also gains in status.
inspired by promising developments in neighbouring post-conflict
Key Lessons
– Businesses have a social responsibility to empower women in
conflict areas.
– Public and private sector partnerships are key.
– Entrepreneurial development is achieved through mentorship,
structured programmes for skills transfer, access to finance,
initiation at the grassroots level.
Endnotes
1
United States Agency for International Development (USAID). “Women & Conflict. An
Introductory Guide for Programming”, 2007.
Soares, R., Cobb, B., Lebow, E., Regis, A., Winsten, A., Wojnas, F. 2011
Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors. New York, NY:
Catalyst, December 2011.
Soares, R., Marquis, C., Lee, M. Gender and Corporate Social Responsibility:
It’s A Matter of Sustainability. New York, NY: Catalyst, 2011.
“The Impact of Conflict on Women and Girls in West and Central Africa and
the UNICEF Response”. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). February
2005. http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/Impact_final.pdf.
United Nations (UN). “World Contraceptive Use 2011”. Wall Chart, United
Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division,
Sales No. E.11.XIII.2. 2011.
Woolley, A., Chabris, C., Pentland, A., Hashmi, N., Malone, T. Evidence for
a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups. In
Science, 2010, 330 (2004): 686-688.
Zahidi, S., Ibarra, H. The Corporate Gender Gap Report. 2010. World
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