Employing Women to Develop the World

Although society has progressed significantly in its treatment of women, equality between men and women has still not been attained. Around the world, and particularly in developing countries, women are undervalued and underutilized. One way to help this issue is through employment: employing women is a great way to not only support human rights and fight poverty, but also to boost the economy.

Many associations and organizations have realized this and are rapidly taking steps to employ women in a meaningful way. The most powerful and long-term solution to this problem seems to be mico-lending. This is when a small loan (often as small as 25 dollars, as with the web-based loaning organization Kiva) is given to an individual to enable them to begin or promote a business. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), for example, has micro-lending programmes in about half of the countries it is associated with, principally in Africa and the Middle East. The first to initialize this type of loaning was the Grameen Bank, which started micro-lending to both men and women about 30 years ago. It quickly found out that women are better borrowers than men: women are more likely to pay back their loan, faster to pay them back, and as a result the vast majority of Grameen (and other micro-lending banks) loans are to women.

Once a woman is given the trust and responsibility of a loan it benefits her and her family in a myriad of ways. She is given more control in the way the household is run, since she now has financial duties. Once a woman is running her own business and is financially able, she is much more likely to send her children to school. This is the beginning of an incredibly powerful and positive cycle: an educated person is more likely to pursue and gain employment, and in turn more likely to educate his/her children. As Almaz Negash of Santa Clara University writes, “research has shown that women are more likely to reinvest profits back into human capital than are men.”

Empowering women by offering them the possibility of employment and responsibility is not only good for society, but apparently also for business. Business for Social Responsibility (BSB) has released a report which explains to companies who operate in developing countries why and how they should invest in women. “Investments in women have a multiplier effect, as women are more likely to reinvest in education, health, and economic activities at the community level,” says the BSB. The report indicates to businesses that an investment in women does not only benefit society, but also the business’s financial interests. This is because women are shown to participate more fully in the workforce than men, and so companies get a better return on their investment when they hire a woman.

Micro-lending is not a band-aid solution to helping women’s rights and the economy of the developing world; it is a long-term solution which is continuing to make a tangible difference. Employing women generates many benefits – it promotes the economy, it empowers women, and it provides jobs and income which translates to better childcare, education, and therefore is a major step toward discontinuing the cycle of poverty in developing countries.

http://www.jobvirtue.com/blog/v/151/Employing-Women-in-Developing-Countries

http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/global_ethics/economic-empowerment.html